In Regina C. v. Michael C.,[1] the supreme court held that a mother committing the crime of custodial interference was a solid foundation for the superior court to modify the physical custody of her children. Regina and Michael C. were married in 2000 and had two children. In 2014, the couple divorced and in the proceedings, the superior court granted Regina temporary custody of the children after finding Michael had engaged in domestic violence against her. Regina left Alaska with the children before the court ruled in 2016 that she would have sole legal and primary physical custody of the children. Michael was granted substantial periods of visitation, including the children’s summer vacations. In July 2016, Regina failed to place the children on a flight to Alaska to visit Michael. Michael responded by moving for an order to make Regina show cause for the failure and to entertain a change in custody. After another hearing, the superior court found Regina committed first-degree custodial interference and ordered an immediate transfer of custody of the children to Michael. Because Michael was a “lawful custodian” of the children during the summer visitations, Regina had a legal obligation under AS 11.41.330(a)(1) to not keep the children from her. The court investigator found that Regina “brainwashed the children into believing Michael is a monster[]” and had in fact intentionally kept the children with her for the summer. The supreme court affirmed the lower court’s order and held that a mother committing the crime of custodial interference was a sufficient foundation for the superior court to modify the physical custody of her children.
[1] 440 P.3d 199 (Alaska 2019).
