El País reports this morning in “Negociación para Liberar a Carrascosa” that estranged parents Maria Jose Carrascosa and Peter Innes are finally talking. When New Jersey judge Donald Venezia sentenced Carrascosa to 14 years last month, he left open the possibility of a reduction in sentence if Carrascosa’s child, Victoria, returned to the US to visit her American father, Innes. Now it seems that a possible agreement is being discussed between Innes’ Spanish lawyer and the Carrascosa family legal representative. The “fiscal de menores” in Valencia is also taking part.
Victoria’s custody is not in dispute. Innes believes she should live with her mother in Spain, a position he has always held according to statements he has made to the press on previous occasions. The conflict seems to lie in how soon Victoria should visit the US. The Carrascosa family holds that initial visits between father and daughter should take place in Spain.
The El País article mentions that while both the US and Spain are signatories to the Hague Convention on Child Abduction, they do not apply it in the same way. While the article does not enter into detail about what the different ways are, the comments of some of the readers may give us a clue or two. More than one lawyer writes criticizing Spanish divorce and spousal abuse laws, which they feel discriminate against men.
It’s a shame that the situation has had to reach such an extreme – Carrascosa has already been in prison for three years and Innes has not seen his daughter for five – before parties started negotiating in earnest. One can only hope that they can now reach an agreement that allows Victoria an ongoing relationship with both parents. Better late than never.
Innes is not a father, he is unhuman and delincuant, so better for Victoria to be with her grantparent.
Truth will come to Free Maria Jose