After more than four years of searching for her missing son, Lorena Perez was finally able to locate her five-year-old child using Facebook. But perhaps all of her troubles could have been avoided if there was a child custody order in place between her and the boy's father, Joseph Vaquera.
ABC News reports that Joseph Vaquera took their son away from the family's San Antonio home in 2006 without permission from Lorena Perez. The mother was never able to press charges against the father, nor was the father able to be charged with a crime for abducting the son, since there was never a child custody order and visitation rights had never been established.
However, Joseph Vaquera did go to jail for an unrelated criminal charge and left his son in the custody of his mother, who is the grandmother of the child. The child's parental grandmother, Isabel Vaquera, is now being charged with kidnapping and tampering with governmental records after she refused to return the child to Lorena Perez once her son was in jail and for falsifying the child's birth certificate to enroll him in school. She could face up to 20 years in prison if she is convicted of both charges.
Lorena Perez was lucky that she was able to get in touch with Joseph Vaquera's girlfriend through Facebook, who contacted the Harris County District Attorney's Office once she found out that the son was classified as a Missing Child. Perhaps this story can teach unmarried couples with children about the importance of establishing a child custody agreement. Texas family law attorneys can help couples establish a fair agreement and visitation schedule that can be enforced through a court order.
Related Resources:
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Five Tips on Child Custody and Visitation (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life Blog)
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Find a Houston Family Law Attorney (FindLaw)
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