Introduction
In August 2024, Pennsylvania amended its child custody laws to compel the courts to examine more closely claims of violence or abuse when making custody or visitation rulings. A history of domestic violence or a noteworthy criminal record can warn judicial officers to special needs related to the child’s safety.
The new law was inspired by Kayden Mancuso, a 7-year-old girl from Bucks County, Pennsylvania who was slain by her father while on court-ordered unsupervised custody time. The unsupervised custody visit was granted despite the mother raising safety concerns during custody litigation. Kayden’s father was required to undergo a psychological evaluation during the child custody actions, which found that he had suicidal thoughts, depression, and violent tendencies.
Unsupervised Child Visitation Awarded
Despite the findings, the court approved the father’s unsupervised visits with Kayden, dependent on securing a receipt acknowledging mental health treatment.
Kayden died in 2018 as a result of her father, Jeffrey Mancuso, repeatedly striking her on the head with a 35-pound dumbbell during a court-ordered weekend visit at his Philadelphia residence. Mancuso left a note on her body that said, “You all get what you deserve,” and then committed suicide.
After the murder, Kayden’s mother, Kathy Sherlock, dedicated herself to changing existing child custody laws, advocating for family court reform, and strengthening laws to protect children in comparable circumstances.
The 2024 Law Change
The new law signed by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro requires courts to hold an evidentiary hearing in cases where a party has a history of criminal convictions, charges or abuse and take into account certain criminal convictions, criminal charges, child abuse and involvement with protective services for any household member, when making a determination in regard to custody to ensure any custody order incorporates safety conditions and restrictions, where necessary.
If the court discovers an ongoing risk of abuse or violence to a child, any custody order must detail safety precautions and restrictions, which can involve supervised visitation only.
The law also adds new crimes the court must consider against a parent or household member in custody proceedings. Those additional crimes are:
- Simple assault
- Recklessly endangering another person
- Cruelty to animals
- Animal fighting
- Possession of animal fighting paraphernalia
- Interference with custody of children
Lawmakers in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Utah have already joined Pennsylvania in passing similar safeguards.
Impact of the New Child Custody Law
One meaningful change brought about by Kayden’s Law is it increased the inventory of crimes reviewable by the judge to assess the risks of violence and abuse towards children. Though the current law notifies the judge of a parent’s conviction for aggravated assault, it does not compel notification for simple assault. This means a conviction of simple assault was never even brought to the judge’s attention. With the recent updates, a history of behavior like this will no longer go unnoticed. The judges are now aware of a more extensive list of aggressive behavior to trigger Risk of Harm hearings.
Kayden’s Law will also place more accountability on the judges, should they decide to order unsupervised custody when a party has a conviction for a violent offense. Under 23 Pa.C.S.A. §5323, if a parent has convictions for violent offenses specified in the statute and a judge awards that parent unsupervised custody, the judge must detail in their order the reasons why unsupervised physical custody is in the best interest of the child.
Final Thoughts
It is critically imperative that you are represented by an experienced attorney at every phase of a custody case. If you are considering filing a custody action or have been sued for custody, contact one of our custody attorneys at Sher & Associates today at (610) 683-0771 or info@sherpc.com.