FATHER LOSES APPEAL IN CUSTODY CASE

A man lost an appeal yesterday to regain parental custody of his
3-year-old girl in a Greene County custody case.

According to court documents, the father was convicted of
distributing a controlled substance near a school and received five
years of probation. His daughter was born three months after the
charges in August 2003.

The child was removed from her parents' home in November 2003 because
she suffered from sleep apnea and was not getting necessary medical
care.

The father violated his probation in January 2005 after testing
positive for marijuana and received 12 years in prison, according to
the documents.

He failed to pay a court-imposed child support of $1 a month despite
being employed from November 2003 to April 2005.

The father's attorney argued it was wrong to terminate his parental
rights because there was insufficient evidence of abuse or neglect.
Appellate judges disagreed.

Court documents do not name the father or child.