Tortured girl moved to custody of father

Tortured girl moved to custody of father

Brother's fate remains uncertain

April 3, 2004

Barbara White Stack

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The 7-year-old Carrick girl who police say was chemically burned and tortured by her mother in February left foster care last night and returned to her father.

No one opposed Dan Liberman, 55, of Virginia, gaining custody of his daughter, not even the attorney for the jailed mother, Debra Liberman.

Common Pleas Judge Jill Rangos yesterday ordered the girl moved.

After that, a three-hour contest ensued over custody of the girl's 4-year-old brother.

Dan Liberman wanted both children, arguing that it would be cruel to separate them after all they'd been through.

But the boy's birth parents said he should be returned to them. The parents placed him with Debra Liberman after the Libermans separated. In the four years since, she failed to complete the adoption, so the birth parents legally retain rights.

Three days ago, Jonathan Sovich and Quyen Vo, of Maryland, told Allegheny County's Office of Children, Youth and Families that they had hired a lawyer and wanted their boy back.

Their lawyer, Christine Gale, urged Rangos to leave the boy in foster care while the court decided whether to place him with his parents.

Gale said he shouldn't be moved to Dan Liberman, then traumatized by a second switch to his birth parents if they ultimately were selected for placement.

The attorneys for the children and both Libermans all argued it would be wrong to separate the youngsters.

Complicating the judge's decision were admissions by both birth parents that they had rarely seen the boy and had used illegal drugs.

The birth parents both said they quit drugs four years ago.

In addition, there were allegations that Dan Liberman had physically abused Debra Liberman.

Liberman, who has three older daughters with Debra Liberman, said he broke Debra Liberman's collarbone once while trying to stop her from destroying property in the house and that he had pushed her when she was dragging their daughter by her hair. He also said he had punched her in the shoulder after she had broken another daughter's nose.

He said he was in therapy and had never injured a child.

The birth parents told the judge they felt getting the boy back would be a second chance for them, but Vo, under questioning by the judge, admitted she didn't feel separating the children was in the youngsters' best interests.

Until final custody is decided, Rangos placed the boy on "an extended visit" with Dan Liberman because he is not a certified foster parent. She also ordered evaluations of him and the parents to help determine final custody.

She said that moving the boy again seemed unlikely.