After a week in jail, tearful mom agrees to have 4-year-old son circumcised
Jailed for the past week after being held in contempt and charged with interfering with child custody, a Florida mom on Friday tearfully agreed to the circumcision of her four-year-old son. She had battled with the boy’s father for years in an effort to avoid the surgical procedure.
Heather Hironimus also withdrew on Wednesday the federal civil rights suit she had filed seeking a court order prohibiting the father, a state court judge and the Palm Beach County sheriff from enforcing a 2012 parenting plan she now disavows, in which she agreed to the circumcision. However, although her consent eliminates the contempt issue, the criminal case continues and she remains in jail for now pending an arraignment and bail hearing, according to the Associated Press, the Palm Beach Post and the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
During Friday’s hearing in Delray Beach, Circuit Judge Jeffrey Gillen temporarily gave the boy’s father, Dennis Nebus (his name is also given as Dennis Nevis in recent news accounts), full power to oversee the child’s health-care decisions. He and Hironimus will later be asked to develop a new parenting plan.
“You are going to have to learn to deal with each other in a civil and amicable manner,” the judge told them. “You will always be this little guy’s parents.”
Attorney May Cain represents Nebus. She said the circumcision has not been scheduled and he may have to have the procedure performed out of state, due to death threats Nebus has been receiving.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Mom jailed in battle with dad over circumcision of 4-year-old son; judge is asked to halt surgery”
Broward-Palm Beach New Times: “Heather Hironimus Signs Consent for Son’s Circumcision”
Palm Beach Post: “Boynton mom drops federal suit fighting son’s circumcision”
Philly Voice: “Federal circumcision lawsuit dropped by jailed mother “
