Hephzibah House Journal

Hephzibah House Journal
Susan Grotte's journal from her experience as a student at Hephzibah House, told in short-story form.

Monday, October 6, 2008

BY JULIE CREEK STAFF WRITER

Journal Gazette, The (Fort Wayne, IN) - January 13, 1993

A judge in Erin, Tenn., refused to rule Monday on a father's request for temporary custody of a former Winona Lake boarding school student.

Houston County, Tenn., Circuit Judge Allen Wallace ordered the child to remain in her mother's custody until a Jan. 29 custody hearing in Goshen, N.Y.

The 15-year-old girl was removed from Hephzibah House two weeks ago and returned to her mother's home in Tennessee.

The girl's mother placed her in Hephzibah House, a fundamentalist Christian boarding school for troubled girls, last February.

Last month, the girl's father sued in Kosciusko Superior Court after Hephzibah House officials denied him a visit with his daughter as allowed under his New York divorce decree, according to court records.

Kosciusko County Superior Court Judge Robert Burner ordered Hephzibah House to allow a visit, and a visit took place.

However, last week Burner said he had no authority to rule on the father's request for temporary custody because the mother took the child back to Tennessee, and out of the Indiana court jurisdiction.