Boy's Divorce Case Against Parents Goes To Court -- Is Mother Fit To Raise Son?

ORLANDO, Fla. - A 12-year-old boy went to court today in a precedent-setting bid to "divorce" his parents.

Gregory Kingsley wants to sever ties with his parents for alleged abuse and abandonment. He wants to be adopted by the foster family he has lived with for nearly a year.

"This little boy does not want to go back. He does not want to have a relationship with his natural family," Gregory's foster father, George Russ, said today.

Gregory's mother offered an 11th-hour settlement yesterday that would postpone for a year a final decision on where the boy would live.

The offer was quickly rejected by the foster family and the boy, but a judge was considering it this morning.

Rachel Kingsley, 30, offered to move from St. Louis to Florida with her two other sons and "submit to intensive family counseling" with Gregory for one year.

If there were no improvement in the relationship between Gregory and his mother at the end of that time, she would agree to terminate her parental rights.

Russ called the offer "media grandstanding," and said Gregory's response was, "No way."

"It's an unacceptable offer," Russ said. "He's been bounced around for 12 years and now they want him to put his life on hold for another year."

The refusal does not mean that Orange Circuit Judge Thomas Kirk will reject the offer.

Gregory has spent his 12 years between his mother, his father and several state foster homes. He contends his father physically abused him and his mother neglected him and finally gave up all attempts to see him while he was in foster care.

Gregory's biological father, Ralph Kingsley, has agreed to let his son be adopted. But Rachel Kingsley denies the accusations, and says her son is being manipulated by his foster family and seduced by their money.

Despite all the arguments, The trial will boil down to one very basic issue: Did Rachel Kingsley abuse and neglect her son to the point that she should forfeit her right to be Gregory's mother?

Kirk also will determine whether Gregory's foster parents, George and Lizabeth Russ of Fruitland Park, may adopt him.

The type of evidence will not differ greatly from that considered by Florida juvenile judges in thousands of parental-rights termination cases each year.

But usually, lawyers from the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) try to convince judges that parents have proven themselves unfit.

What makes this case different is that Gregory himself is asking the judge to order that Kingsley no longer be his mother.

After spending more than the 18 months allowed by state law in foster care, Gregory felt HRS was dragging its feet. With George Russ' help he hired a lawyer, Jerri Blair of Tavares.

Blair convinced Kirk that Gregory should have the right to bring his own case against his mother. Juvenile-law experts agree it's the first time in the country that a child has been given that right.

Kingsley will testify that she did not neglect or abuse Gregory, and that HRS workers prevented her from seeing Gregory.

Kingsley's other two sons, Jeremiah, 10, and Zachary, 8, also are expected to testify. They have been placed in state care in Florida and Missouri three times in four years but now live with their mother in St. Louis, along with Kingsley's boyfriend, Steve Hack.

Police in St. Louis charged Hack with pushing Kingsley down the stairs on Aug. 28, breaking one of her arms. Kingsley denies that happened.

Kirk, 60, a juvenile judge for 10 years, could rule at the trial's scheduled conclusion tomorrow or postpone his decision. A conservative former prosecutor of juvenile criminal cases and an outspoken critic of HRS, Kirk is known for making quick rulings.

Perhaps the biggest difference between this and other custody trials will be press coverage. Such trials are normally held in strict secrecy, ostensibly to protect the privacy of children and their families.

But Kirk has decided to allow reporters and cameras in the courtroom because all the major parties have appeared on national television to discuss the case.