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Yet he remains determined to bring his son home. During his stay in Brazil, he had numerous conversations with officials from the U.S. Embassy. While he could not discuss those conversations, he did admit that he felt encouraged. "It has given me greater hope," says Goldman, back home in Tinton Falls. Goldman was supposed to see his son on the morning of Oct. 18. Armed with a court order from a federal judge, accompanied by his Brazilian attorney, a U.S. consular officer and five federal officials, he went to the address given to him, a condominium complex where the boy was said to be living. The federal officials went inside. Goldman waited outside the iron gates. Twenty minutes passed, slowly. Finally the federal officials emerged from the complex. The little boy was not with them. "My heart sank," says Goldman. He has not seen Sean since June 16, 2004, the day his former wife took their son to Brazil for what was supposed to be a two-week vacation. The next day Bruna Goldman called her husband and told him she was never coming back, and that he would have to come down to Brazil and sign some papers her lawyer had drawn up if he ever hoped to see his son again. Sean was 4 years old the last time his father saw him. In 2007 Bruna Goldman married Joao Paulo Lins e Silva, a lawyer from a prominent family. His father's law firm deals in international family law. Further complicating this story, Bruna died on Aug. 22, eight hours after giving birth to a baby girl. Now, two months later, Goldman found himself standing outside a condominium complex in Rio being told that the stepfather had taken Sean away. The people inside, Goldman's former in-laws, did not know where the boy was, or so they told the officials who had come to enforce the court order. Lins e Silva's father, Paulo Lins e Silva, later claimed that his son did not know about the visitation ruling granted to Goldman. "He was summoned and notified about the ruling," says Goldman. "His attorneys . . . took the records out of the court to make copies." "What makes the allegation even more unbelievable is the fact that he presented an appeal to the second level federal court on Friday (Oct. 17), trying to overturn the ruling. How can he claim he did not know?" Goldman stayed in Rio hoping that he might get another court-mandated opportunity to see his son. Instead, Lins e Silva filed an appeal with another judge in the same court and got the original ruling overturned. In the meantime, Lins e Silva mounted "a campaign of frivolous lawsuits" against him, according to Goldman. In one such suit, Lins e Silva accused Goldman of "exposing" his son. "I don't even know what that means," Goldman says. "Because I've spoken my son's name, because I've shown people pictures of him? I suppose that's what they mean. I've been contacted by people in the media, and I've answered their questions truthfully. And they're saying I shouldn't have? It's crazy." Goldman is also accused of soiling the good name of the Lins e Silva family by talking about Joao Paulo Lins e Silva to the media. "The man kidnapped my son," Goldman says, incredulous, his voice rising. In addition, Lins e Silva claims Goldman was a party to the hiring of a helicopter to fly over their residence to harass them. "It's just totally out of control," Goldman adds. On Oct. 23, court agents came to his hotel several times to serve him with a summons. "They wanted me to come downstairs," he says. "I told the front desk to tell them . . . to contact my attorney. They wouldn't leave. I called my lawyer and the (U.S) consulate for help." His lawyer called the hotel. He called Goldman back. He told him the agents were leaving, not to worry. Shortly thereafter the front desk called again and told Goldman the agents were still there. Late that night someone slipped a note under the door of his room, Goldman says. They would be back at noon, the note said. "I'm trapped," Goldman says. "I'm being sued in that country for talking about the kidnapping of my son. "The Brazilian media is still trying to reach me. But (Lins e Silva) has a court order. They can't discuss this story down there . . . A couple of reporters came and found me at my hotel and asked me to keep their names quiet so they don't get slapped with a lawsuit." On Saturday Goldman decided to fly home to New Jersey. "There was no reason to sit in my hotel room and be a pin cushion for this guy to charge me with these outlandish, bogus claims," he says. "They know I'm not rich. They know I've spent a small fortune — for me, a large fortune — trying to bring Sean home. Over the last four years, between legal fees and travel expenses, it has cost me more than $300,000." "That could have paid Sean's tuition to Harvard Medical School."
Copyright © 2008 Asbury Park Press - Reprinted with permission |
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avid Goldman has returned from Brazil feeling empty, once again. Once again he did not get to see his son, Sean. His court-approved visitation rights were violated. In effect, he spent nine days in Rio de Janeiro for nothing, holed up in a hotel room, at great expense, being subjected to a barrage of counter suits that made no sense to him, legalese in Portuguese.
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