FRANCE
U.S. father wins custody of 4-year-old daughter
12/4/2004
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France (AP) - A French appeals court ruled Friday that a 4-year-old girl at the center of a trans-Atlantic custody battle should be sent home with her American father.
During the fall, police scaled the walls of Charlotte Washington's nursery school in southern village of Adrets-de-l'Esterel and entered the building in a bid to return her to her father. Teachers hid the child, and the police left empty-handed.
David Washington, of New York State, was initially granted custody of the child in 2003 by an American court, a decision confirmed May 13 by an appeals court in Aix-en-Provence.
Charlotte's French mother, Sophie Maumousseau, subsequently traveled to the United States, then returned to France with the child, refusing to give her back to her father.
A separate legal battle ensued, and the child was placed under foster care by a court in nearby Draguignan.
Friday's appeals court decision reaffirmed the May 13 ruling.
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