Facing jail time for a child's safety

My boyfriend (let's call him John) is from NY (don't know if that matters)...

He and his ex-girlfriend (let's call her Mary) were never married, and they have temporary joint custody. He gets their daughter (Let's call her Lucy) on the weekends and his ex gets their daughter during the week.

Well, one night, there was an incident where Mary's new boyfriend became violent towards Mary around Lucy. John took Lucy for about a week or two- in fear that Mary's boyfriend would become violent again. He then had to give Lucy back under a court order.

Now, he's being told that he could be facing jail time for taking Lucy (even under the violent circumstance). Is there anything he can do?

Originally Posted by Unregistered My boyfriend (let's call him John) is from NY (don't know if that matters)... He and his ex-girlfriend (let's call her Mary) were never married, and they have temporary joint custody. He gets their daughter (Let's call her Lucy) on the weekends and his ex gets their daughter during the week. Well, one night, there was an incident where Mary's new boyfriend became violent towards Mary around Lucy. John took Lucy for about a week or two- in fear that Mary's boyfriend would become violent again. He then had to give Lucy back under a court order. Now, he's being told that he could be facing jail time for taking Lucy (even under the violent circumstance). Is there anything he can do?

He can try explaining to the Judge why he took his daughter. If this problem ever comes up again, the correct and legal course of action would be to keep his daughter during his parenting time and file an emergency motion asking for a temp emergency order until a full evidentiary hearing can be held. Or, if the child is in immenent danger he should call CPS right away.