An ex-gay mother faces arrest in
Vermont after failing to give up custody of her 7-year-old daughter
to her former lesbian partner, the Washington Post reported.
Judge William Cohen of Rutland Family
Court found Lisa Miller in contempt of court Tuesday for failing to
appear in his courtroom
Lisa Miller, 41, fled her 4-year civil
union to Janet Jenkins, 45, and renounced being gay in 2004, moving
herself and the couple's 17-month-old daughter, Isabella, from
Vermont to Virginia.
In dissolving the couple's civil union,
Cohen originally awarded Miller, who is the biological mother through
artificial insemination, custody of the child but granted liberal
visitation rights to Jenkins. The court, however, reversed the
ruling on November 20, awarding custody to Jenkins, after it found
Miller to be in contempt of court for denying Jenkins visitation
rights.
Miller, however, did not appear on
January 1 to hand over the child. During a hearing last month, Cohen
gave Miller until Tuesday to comply with the court's order.
Miller's attorney, Stephen Crampton,
told the judge that he is unaware of his client's whereabouts.
“I hope the judge's order today gives
law enforcement the tools they need to find my daughter,” Janet
Jenkins said after the brief hearing.
Cohen's arrest warrant applies only in
Vermont – an unlikely harbor for Miller, said Crampton. But a
national arrest warrant on felony charges of custodial interference
were being pursued by Jenkins' attorney Sarah Star.
Upon leaving the relationship, Miller
renounced being gay, calling it a “sin,” and became an
evangelical Christian.
“[Isabella] knows that Ms. Jenkins'
choice to continue to live a homosexual lifestyle is a sin,” Miller
said in court documents.