## Facts

- E.A. (father) and R.A. (mother) lived together for about three months after their son was born, then separated.
- After the separation, E.A. initially had frequent contact with the child, but over time his contact decreased to visits about every two weeks.
- When the child was about two years old, E.A. was imprisoned after being convicted of murdering a young child who refused to follow E.A.’s instructions.
- Once incarcerated, E.A. did not attempt to communicate with R.A. or maintain a relationship with his son for years.
- Shortly after E.A. was imprisoned, the child was diagnosed with autism, which included sensitivity to noise, difficulty with cooperation, and sudden yelling outbursts.
- When the child was about seven years old, E.A. filed a Family Court petition seeking visitation with the child at the correctional facility.
- By that time, R.A. had two other young children. Prison visits would require arranging childcare for them and taking a bus trip with her autistic son to the facility.
- R.A. opposed visitation, asserting the child lacked a meaningful relationship with E.A. and that prison visitation would be harmful and destabilizing given the child’s needs.

## Issues

1. Whether, under the child’s best interests, an incarcerated father convicted of murdering a young child should be granted prison visitation with his autistic son after years without contact.
2. Whether the usual preference for parental visitation is overcome where the child has special needs, no existing bond with the parent, and the proposed visitation would occur in a prison setting with significant practical and emotional burdens.

## Decision

- The Family Court denied E.A.’s petition for visitation at the correctional facility.
- The court determined that ordering prison visitation under these circumstances was not in the child’s best interests.
- No visitation schedule was directed.

## Legal Principles

- In New York, visitation determinations are governed by the child’s best interests, not a parent’s wishes.
- Courts generally favor frequent and regular access between a child and a noncustodial parent, but that preference can be overcome by proof that visitation would harm the child or is otherwise contrary to the child’s welfare.
- A parent’s incarceration does not automatically end visitation rights; it is one fact among many in the best-interests analysis.
- When evaluating a request for prison visitation, the court may consider:
  - The nature of the parent’s criminal conduct, including violence against a child,
  - The existence (or absence) of a parent-child relationship and efforts to maintain contact,
  - The child’s age, mental health, developmental status, and ability to tolerate the prison environment,
  - The likely emotional effect on the child of visiting an incarcerated parent,
  - The transportation and logistical demands placed on the custodial parent and household.
- Where the record shows that visitation would provide little or no benefit to the child and carries a meaningful risk of emotional or developmental harm, the court may deny visitation.

## Conclusion

In *E.A. v. R.A.*, the Bronx County Family Court denied an incarcerated father’s request for prison visitation with his seven-year-old autistic son because the father’s conviction for murdering a young child, his years-long failure to maintain any relationship with his son, and the child’s autism-related challenges made prison visits likely to be harmful rather than beneficial, overcoming the usual preference for parent-child contact.


E.A. v. R.A., 56 N.Y.S.3d 815 (2017)