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Lisa Miller Arrested in Excessive-Profile Vermont Similar Intercourse Custody Case

Light the way home

Lisa Miller, a former Vermont woman wanted in a high-profile same-sex child custody case for more than a decade, was arrested after she vomited.

She has been wanted since 2010 when an arrest warrant was issued against her after she was alleged to have fled the country with the child she had during a civil union that has since dissolved. Miller struggled to keep the child away from her former life partner, Janet Jenkins, and when the courts finally sided with Jenkins, she disappeared. Her arrest was reported by The Associated Press and other news outlets.

The case generated widespread media coverage at the time as it raised questions about the rights of same-sex couples, especially when different states offer different laws on civil unions. Miller said she has given up on her homosexuality and been focused on Christian causes, including Liberty Counsel, a legal group.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. The 18 year old is still considered overseas

Missing person poster

According to VTDigger.org, Miller “reported to the authorities in Nicaragua” and was held in a detention center in Miami, Florida.

The website said the child, Isabella, is now said to be 18 and still lives in Nicaragua. Dallas Voice reported that Miller and Isabella both contacted the U.S. embassy.

Sarah Star, Janet Jenkins’ attorney, told VTDigger on behalf of Jenkins, “I just want Isabella to know that I love her very much and that I have never stopped loving her. Isabella has a family and support system here that always welcomes her home with open arms. “

2. Lisa was inseminated while the couple was in a civil union

Light the way homeLisa and Isabella

The ACLU posted a summary of the case on its website.

“Janet and Lisa Miller-Jenkins lived in Virginia and traveled to Vermont to form a civil union,” she explains.

“Back in Virginia, they decided to have a child and Lisa was inseminated. Lisa gave birth to Isabella in April 2002. A few months later, Lisa, Janet, and Isabella moved to Vermont. “

The post states that Isabella “was associated with two women who both acted as mothers to her. In 2003 the couple separated. Lisa moved to Virginia with Isabella. Lisa then filed a motion to dissolve the civil union in Vermont family court. As part of the dissolution of the civil union, Lisa admitted that Janet had parental rights to Isabella and asked the Vermont court to determine custody of Isabella. “

Another court document reads: “After Lisa initially allowed Janet to visit IMJ in June, she subsequently declined to allow Janet to contact IMJ, as required by the Vermont custody order provisions.”

However, a number of court battles followed. At the time, the women were known as Lisa Miller-Jenkins and Janet Miller-Jenkins.

3. The courts eventually granted custody to Janet because Lisa did not give her judicial visitation rights

Light the way homeJanet and Isabella

A court document states that a Vermont court issued an injunction granting Lisa primary custody and visiting rights for Janet.

The courts eventually found that Janet and Lisa were both “legal parents” of the girl and that Lisa “despised the court for refusing to visit Janet.”

In 2006, the Vermont Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Lower Court’s orders.

Lisa turned down visiting Janet and filed a lawsuit asking the court to declare that she was the “sole mother” and the only person with parental rights over the child.

In 2004, the court ruled that Lisa “is the only mother … and that neither Janet nor anyone else is entitled to parenting or visiting rights.” According to the ACLU, the judge relied on an act that invalidated the civil unions at the time .

But Janet appealed that decision. A higher court overturned this decision.

The courts ruled Vermont was the correct jurisdiction for the case.

There were then various appeals court battles. Lisa eventually asked the US Supreme Court to intervene, but they didn’t. In 2009, according to the ACLU, Lisa was ordered to follow Vermont instructions.

“On November 20, 2009, the Vermont Court ordered that custody be transferred from Lisa to Janet on January 1, 2010,” the ACLU wrote. “… Lisa did not transfer Isabella to Janet as ordered, and both Lisa and Isabella are missing.”

At least they were missing – until now.

4. Janet heartily pleaded for Isabella’s return over the years

Light the way homeJanet Jenkins with the child

In 2010, advocacy group GLAD issued a statement from Janet. It read:

I am very worried about Isabella. I don’t know where she is or if she’s okay.

Isabella is my daughter. Lisa and I decided together we would have a child and we would use alternative reproductive technologies to do so. We chose a donor together. I was there with Lisa when she gave birth to Isabella. We gave both of her our last names as we were both her parents. After Isabella was born, Lisa and I looked after her together. We fed her both, played with her, changed her diapers and loved her.

Eventually the courts decided I was Isabella’s parents, but in my heart I always knew that. It was devastating for me, I am sure, for Isabella when Lisa held back contact between me and my daughter.

My goal was never to separate Isabella from Lisa. I just want Isabella to know and love both of her parents. I just want to be with her, like any parent. Please help me find my child.

5. An ordained minister was accused of helping Lisa, who allegedly “gave up her former lesbian life”, to flee to Nicaragua with the child

Light the way homeLisa Miller and Isabella

A man who said he was an ordained minister named Timothy David (Timo) Miller was charged with assisting in the international parental abduction of minor Isabella Ruth Miller-Jenkins “by Lisa Miller and other unknown persons”.

An email in the complaint against him stated: “Lisa applied for the dissolution of the civil union in 2003 and moved to the Winchester area of ​​Virginia with Isabella, who was 17 months old at the time. She renounced her previous lesbian life. Lisa returned to her Christian faith in 2003. She and Isabella attend Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg. “

The complaint continues: “Bank records indicate that Lisa Ann Miller received multiple pay slips from the Lynchburg Christian Academy payroll account.”

The criminal complaint alleged he helped Lisa Miller (unrelated) saying, “This crime involved removing a child from the United States on or about September 22, 2009 and keeping a child who was outside the United States of the United States was United States from September 2009 to the present day with the intent to obstruct Janet Jenkins’ rightful exercise of parental rights. “

The complaint alleges that Timothy Miller “assisted Lisa Miller and IMJ in their travels outside the United States. Timothy Miller provided shelter for Lisa Miller and IMJ outside of the United States. “

According to the complaint, on April 27, 2010 “a criminal complaint and an arrest warrant were issued against Lisa Miller”.

The complaint continues: “According to a subpoena from the Grand Jury, Mexicana Airlines left Toronto, Ontario on September 22, 2009, and arrived in Mexico City on Mexicana Flight 887. According to a subpoena from the Grand Jury, TACA Airlines required Lisa Miller and IMJ to leave Juarez International Airport in Mexico City on September 22, 2009 and arrive at El Salvador International Airport on TACA Flight 0231. “They then went to Managua, Nicaragua.

The complaint contains another email that reads, “Timo Miller will meet you at the airport and hold up a sign with your name on it. He is pastor of an Aryan Mennonite church in Managua that works for Christian Aid Ministries, Ohio. “

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