label: Wyoming Supreme Court

CHEYENNE - While a Wyoming father may have great difficulty visiting his children in Indonesia, the circumstance is the inevitable result of an international divorce, not the fault of the judge, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The unanimous ruling upheld a decision by Fremont County District Court Judge Nancy J. Guthrie in a custody case involving David H. Stonham, the father, and Erni Widiastuti, also known as Sara Stonham, the mother, a native of Indonesia.

The two met when Stonham answered an ad that Widiastuti placed in a dating magazine.

They later married in Indonesia, honeymooned in Bali, and returned to the United States. The mother was only able to get a tourist visa which expired after six months, making her an illegal alien.

In October 200l, the couple and their first child moved from California to Lander, where Stonham worked at Fremont Motor Company. After eight months in Lander, the mother, who was pregnant with a second child, left home with their son and went to a safehouse.

Two days later the father filed for divorce. The mother later gave birth to a girl.

During the divorce trial in August 2002, Stonham's father and his sister, Maura Strong, said they thought the mother should be awarded custody of the children. Strong said she felt her brother was capable of hurting the children and he had threatened members of their family.

A month later, Judge Guthrie granted the divorce and awarded the mother primary custody and control of the two children.

Guthrie found the mother better emotionally equipped to care for the children, while the father was unable to maintain stable, long-term relationships and his attitude suggested he had little or no respect for the mother.

Guthrie granted the father two weeks of visitation in the fall, two weeks in the spring and four weeks in the summer with the visits restricted to the community where the children live until the younger child reaches her tenth birthday.

Guthrie also ordered the father to post a $50,000 bond as security against any attorney fees the mother may incur in enforcing her custody rights.

The father appealed, claiming that the district court abused its discretion and the custody order was not in the best interests of the children.

The Supreme Court, in a decision written by Justice Barton Voigt, said the district court, being aware the mother planned to return to Indonesia with the children, was confronted with an especially difficult custody and visitation decision.

That decision was based in part on evidence that the mother had the support of a stable and loving family in Indonesia.

The Supreme Court also said the $50,000 bond is reasonable because the father had threatened to kidnap the children if he was not awarded custody.