When Bruna Goldman took her son Sean to Brazil, she decided to divorce her American husband David, marry another man and remain in Brazil. She subsequently died and left the boy with his stepfather, resulting in an epic international custody dispute.
In this interview with nine-year-old Sean’s Brazilian stepfather from Brazil’s O Globo, João Paulo Lins e Silva breaks his silence to challenge the idea that his ‘silence implies consent’ and says that the American ‘lied’ about being prevented from seeing his son – charging that Goldman has intentionally stayed away as part of his legal strategy to charge Lins e Silva with kidnapping.
João Paulo Lins e Silva tells O Globo in part:
“The details he’s offered don’t conform to reality. We have all the documents that prove this. His version only shows photos with Sean. I didn’t watch all of the programs, but I know that one of the things he alleges is that he came to Brazil and was prevented (from seeing his son). That is a lie. There has never been any attempt to impede him from doing anything. He never attempted to contact the family like that. There was never any legal initiative on this. Zero.”
Translated By Brandi Miller
March 14, 2009
Brazil – O Globo – Original Article (Portuguese)
RIO: American David Goldman had just left the condominium, where earlier he had met with his son Sean for the second time that day, when lawyer João Paulo Lins e Silva, the boy’s stepfather, welcomed the O Globo team for his first interview on the case. Despite the annoyance caused by the visit (in fact, father and son saw one another outside the apartment – in the common area of the building), João Paulo, who is struggling to keep Sean in Brazil, appeared calm and somewhat satisfied to know that right now, there is a manifesto issued by friends circulating on the Internet in support of his cause.
He explains that after a long period of silence he has decided to discuss the case to “stop taking the heat” and to challenge the idea that “silence implies consent.” The state courts awarded him temporary custody of the child and João Paulo says he’s the target of an international smear campaign in which he appears like a “kidnapper” of a 9-year-old boy who considers himself his son. During the interview, João Paulo tried to avoid any emotional tone. According to him, he doesn’t want to use the same weapons as the American. In the end, however, he gave up. Confronted with a photograph of Sean, in which the boy is holding the wedding rings of João Paulo and Bruna [the boy’s now-deceased mother] in a wood frame the shape of an eight, the lawyer explains that the “eight,” when laid down, stands for infinity. “That was our symbol … infinite love.” The he cries.
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