JUDGE DISMISSES CHILD CUSTODY CASE

Post-Tribune (IN) - January 10, 1993
Author: The Associated Press
A judge, claiming he has no jurisdiction, has thrown out a child custody case involving a teen who alleged harsh treatment at a Winona Lake boarding school.

Kosciusko Superior Court Judge Robert Burner threw out the case Thursday, a week after the girl's mother removed her from Hephzibah House , a religious school for troubled teen-age girls, and took her home to Tennessee.

The child's father, who lives in Orange County, N.Y., had sought an injunction granting him temporary custody after a court-ordered visit with his 15-year-old daughter last week.

The girl, whose first name is Sarah, told her father that boarders are put on liquid protein diets if they fail to memorize Bible verses.

The names of the principles in the case were not made public because the child had been molested by a stepfather, who is in a Tennessee prison.

A custody hearing is scheduled Jan. 29 in New York in the case. The father's attorney, Anthony LaBella, said Hephzibah House has agreed to provide him with an informational videotape to be used in that hearing.

The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne reported Friday that state welfare investigators visited the school this week. State law prohibits officials from confirming such investigations.
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