L’Aquila, Dec. 16 (LaPresse) – The L’Aquila Court of Appeal has reserved its decision on the appeal filed by spouses Nathan and Catherine Trevallion Birmingham against the Juvenile Court’s ruling suspending their parental authority over their three children, with whom they had been living in isolation in a woodland area in Palmoli, in the province of Chieti, and who are currently housed in a community facility in Vasto. In reports by social workers, the need to protect the children’s “rights of childhood” is cited, with references to personal hygiene issues and living conditions deemed inadequate. The professionals, however, stressed that the children were removed in a manner “aimed at avoiding any trauma”. The parents’ defence team, lawyers Marco Femminella and Danila Solinas, is challenging the Juvenile Court’s decision, arguing that “the criteria of emergency, exceptionality and the best interests of the child” required for such a drastic measure “were not met”. According to the lawyers, the intervention involving law enforcement and the placement of the minors in a group home were not justified and “alternative solutions could have been considered”. The date of the new hearing has not yet been communicated to the defence team.
© Copyright LaPresse
