BY TOM O'NEILL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ken Goodwin and his newly adopted son, Chase.
(Ernest Coleman photo)
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MONTGOMERY -- It was always about the best interest of the child, on paper in court and in their hearts at home.
But for legal guardians Ken and Nancy Goodwin of Montgomery, the court battle over 3-year-old Chase Reed always left room to worry. To know "best interest of the child" was subject to differing interpretations. To fear Chase's birth mother, Vivian Rodgers of Fort Worth, Texas -- convicted in April of illegally taking him during an unsupervised visitation -- might want him back. And win.
The Goodwins' worrying officially ended Thursday in Hamilton County Probate Court, where Magistrate Valerie Zummo presided over their adoption of the blond boy who will return to preschool next month. Magistrate Zummo declined to comment, citing confidentiality.
"The main thing is just getting the legal aspects all finalized," a relieved Mr. Goodwin, 42, said Thursday from home. "It was always about his best interest to us."
They will continue to celebrate today with Mr. Goodwin's parents, Sam and Sara Goodwin, who traveled from Idaho and attended Thursday's court proceeding. Chase is the Goodwins' first child.
Ms. Rodgers, 26, was not in court Thursday and unavailable for comment. There is a one-year appeal deadline.
When the Goodwins reported Chase missing in November, Montgomery police weren't sure what crime, if any, had been committed. The Goodwins and Ms. Rodgers, who has four other children in Texas but was living in Hyde Park, had an open-visitation arrangement, much of it unwritten.
The case illustrated the potential perils of unwritten open-visitation arrangements, according to some adoption experts.
Ms. Rodgers was apprehended four days later, on Thanksgiving morning, in Fort Worth, where she had driven with Chase. The boy was returned to the Goodwins. Probate Court Magistrate David Pfeiffer, who initially handled the custodial transfer, said Ms. Rodgers' felony conviction and two years' probation wouldn't automatically preclude her from regaining custody.
In an interview with The Cincinnati Enquirer following her no-contest plea to interference with the custody of a child, a remorseful Ms. Rodgers said she wanted Chase back.
But in May she signed off on the adoption process and last spoke with Chase on May 23 -- his birthday.
