Mom admits she halted visitation

Cheryl Pike Barlow admits she stopped visitation with her ex-partner, Keri Lynne Jones, for a time during the month of May and has to forward her Texas address and phone number to Jones for the purpose of court-ordered visitation. But she says she had her reasons.

The case of two women locked in a legal battle over a 3-year-old girl went back to court Tuesday after Jones accused Barlow of refusing to follow the visitation schedule set by the court. Currently, the issue of the court order is pending a ruling before the Utah Supreme Court.

Meantime, Barlow has been charged with felony custodial interference for putting off visitation with Jones.

During the contempt hearing, Barlow testified via telephone from her new home in Texas that she in no way intentionally subverted the court's visitation order but also made it clear she would prefer that her child have no contact with Jones.

Jones says she has a parental relationship with the 3-year-old and that both she and Barlow conceived the child with the intent of co-raising her, even listing the girl's name as "Jones-Barlow." But Barlow, who says she has left lesbian life and converted to an evangelical Christian faith, said she does not want her daughter exposed to Jones.

Barlow testified, sometimes tearfully, that she in no way means that she does not want her daughter exposed to gays and lesbians but that she does not want her daughter exposed to Jones specifically.

The former gay activist, who at one point chaired the Board of Governors for the Human Rights Campaign, said she fled Utah to Texas to escape the harassment she says she received from members of the gay community when she tried to sever co-guardianship with Jones.

Citing numerous phone calls to her work and unwanted visits to her home, Barlow's attorney, Frank Mylar, said his client was being harassed by Jones to the point where Barlow didn't want her former partner to know her whereabouts.

Jones' attorney, Lauren Barros, argued that Jones at times received no reply to her requests to schedule visits with the child. Barros said Jones now has to fly to Texas and visit the girl at her hotel room because Barlow refuses to disclose where she lives.

Third District Judge Deno Himonas told Mylar that at first look, it appeared Barlow was willfully avoiding the court order. "It does smell like your client is doing everything she can to avoid visitation," Himonas said.

But Barlow testified that she has her reasons as a mother. Barlow said after each court-ordered visit, her daughter exhibits aggressive behavior and has nightmares. She added her daughter's potty training is also thrown off.

Barros countered that there is evidence that the girl has exhibited such behavior at other times and that it is not directly linked to Jones' visits.

After more than three hours, Himonas continued the contempt hearing for a full-day session on Sept. 15. Mylar has also filed a motion to have the court impose a restraining order on the court's previous order until a Utah Supreme Court rules.

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