“If the goal here is normalcy and reunification or whatever, this is not the way to go.”
By Andrew Welsh-Huggins (AP), October 27, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A teenage girl who said she feared her father would harm or kill her for converting from Islam to Christianity returned to Ohio on Tuesday after running away to Florida three months ago.
Rifqa Bary returned to circumstances far different than those she left: Instead of her home in New Albany, one of central Ohio’s most well-off communities, she’ll be in a foster home under state custody.
Bary, 17, will also have her phone and Internet use supervised by the Franklin County Children Service Agency, under a judge’s order issued earlier Tuesday.
The children’s services agency had blamed Bary’s use of Facebook for her troubles, saying she went to Orlando, Fla., after talking to the Rev. Blake Lorenz, pastor of Global Revolution Church, in an online prayer group.
Bary disappeared July 19 and police used phone and computer records to track her to Lorenz.
“What we want to restrict is the other people, the other organizations, the other forces, that have interjected themselves into this case inappropriately, and has caused the additional problems that we’ve seen,” said Jim Zorn, a children’s services attorney, who had asked for tougher supervision that would have restricted Bary from using the Internet and her cell phone.
Bary’s father has denied the girl’s claims and a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation found no credible threats to the girl.
The girl’s parents supported the restrictions, saying through their attorney they were concerned about her interacting with adults over the Internet.
“As you know, there’s a lot of danger and concern about that with children,” said their attorney, Omar Tarazi.
Kort Gatterdam, an attorney representing the girl, opposed the request, saying problems were caused by a conflict between the girl and her parents, not the Internet.
“We’re making some assumptions, without evidence in the record, that she has done something improper talking to people on Facebook. There’s no evidence of that,” Gatterdam told the judge.
“If the goal here is normalcy and reunification or whatever, this is not the way to go.”
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
