CASE OF ABUSED TODDLER HIGHLIGHTS FIGHT OVER FAMILY LAW

SANFORD -- A Seminole County toddler who was returned to her mother,
despite the woman's ongoing drug use, criminal record and the pleas
of other family members, was rushed to a hospital last week after
authorities discovered she had been abused.

Nineteen-month-old Kelsey Maria Winn had a bruise shaped like a
handprint on her face, according to police. Social workers were told
the abuse had been going on for two months.

The mother, Danielle Nicole Winn, 21, of Winter Park, admitted she
had slapped the child and was jailed on charges of child abuse and
neglect, authorities said.

Kelsey is now living with strangers, a foster family.

Scores of children are abused daily in Florida and taken from their
homes, but Kelsey's case illustrates what some criticize as a flaw in
Florida family law: Parental rights trump children's rights.

Family members had begged Circuit Judge James E.C. Perry not to
return Kelsey to her mother in May and again in June. When Winn
testified she was drug-free, Perry ordered her to walk down the hall
and provide a urine sample. She did, and she tested positive for
marijuana use.

Perry returned the child to her mother anyway, saying that if every
parent who used marijuana had their children taken away, "We'd remove
a lot of children."

The 5th District Court of Appeal and Florida Supreme Court upheld his ruling.

Family-law experts say he had little choice. One of the underpinnings
of state law is that parents -- even bad ones -- have the right to
raise their children.

Relatives cared for girl

Winn had voluntarily given her child to her half-sister, Laura
Alderman, 33, an Apopka paralegal, when she was arrested in Escambia
County on fraud charges.

That was December 1999, less than a month after Kelsey was born.
According to the child's medical records, Kelsey suffered from
methadone withdrawal during her first months. Those symptoms ended.
Winn got out of jail and went into a residential drug-rehab program.

For 18 months, Alderman and her husband, Daryl, cared for the child.
They fell in love with her. Three months ago, they asked a judge to
let them adopt Kelsey, saying they were the only parents she had ever
known.

But Winn fired back: She asked Perry to take the child away from the
Aldermans and give her back to her.

The Aldermans argued Winn was unstable, had a history of drug abuse
- -- including two drug arrests, in addition to the one on fraud
charges -- was a high school dropout, had trouble keeping a job and
knew nothing about caring for a toddler.

In contrast, the Aldermans had been married for 12 years, earned
$85,000 a year and were never arrested.

Perry sided with Winn. Orange County deputies hauled Kelsey out of
bed at the Aldermans' house about 11 p.m. June 1. Laura Alderman has
not seen her since.

It has been a heartbreaking ordeal for them, they said. On Tuesday,
the day after Winn was arrested on the abuse charges, they asked
Circuit Judge Nancy Alley to give Kelsey back to them, at least
temporarily.

But Winn objected, and Alley ordered the child into state custody.
Alley must review that decision in a few weeks.

Perry would not discuss the case, but he said parental rights are "sacrosanct."

"I follow the law," he said. "I don't follow emotion."

Child's interest not primary

When two parents are fighting over custody, the issue before a judge
is: What's in the child's best interest?

But in a case such as this, when one of the parties is not a parent,
the issue is: Did the parent abuse, neglect or abandon the child?

At the time Perry made his decision, there was no evidence of abuse.
But that changed about a week ago, after Winn's roommate and a
neighbor told social workers that Winn had struck Kelsey several
times during their two months together.

Winn was arrested Monday, after a deputy saw the bruise on Kelsey's
face and Winn said she had slapped the child because she kept eating
cat food out of a dish on the floor.

Winn posted a $1,000 bond and was released from Seminole County Jail
on Wednesday.

Although the state has taken away her child, the system is designed
to rehabilitate Winn. There is a fair chance Kelsey will be returned
to her.

Winn could not be reached for comment Friday, but in June, when asked
whether she was a good mother, she said, "I believe so, yes."

Back then, Perry tried to help her become one. He ordered her to
enroll in parenting classes and to get a drug screen. There's no
record of her doing either.

He also erected a set of protections for Kelsey, including ordering
the Department of Children & Families to watch for signs of abuse.

Proving a parent unfit is "a very high burden," said Norm Levin, a
Longwood family attorney. The law does not require a parent to
provide a safe and comfortable home, merely an adequate one, he said.

And the law should have a strong parental bias, said Patricia
Strowbridge, an Orlando lawyer. If a judge merely had to decide which
family provided the better home, then everyone's children would be at
risk.

"If somebody could prove they have a better home than you, they could
take your kids away," she said.

The law kept Richard and Linda Phelps of Brandon from raising their
5- year-old niece. They had cared for her for more than a year, while
her mother was dying of cancer. They asked a judge to give them
permanent custody, alleging her father had abandoned her because he
had moved out of state and hadn't seen her in three years. The 2nd
District Court of Appeal ruled the child's place was with her father.

"It was devastating," Richard Phelps said. The law is simply wrong, he added.

But Jack Levine, president of the Center for Florida's Children, a
nonprofit advocacy group in Tallahassee, said children who are
separated from their parents -- even bad ones -- often pay a price.

"I can give you as many examples of children who are damaged by
having their contact with their natural parent severed as I can of
cases where such severance is good for the child," he said.

The Aldermans hope either Alley or an appeals court will give Kelsey
back to them.

"Kelsey didn't need to get hurt," said Laura Alderman.

Judge Perry, however, is convinced he did the right thing.

"The system is working," he said.