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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-1447 THOMAS C. COSTOPOULOS, Plaintiff : THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA vs. : No. O(P - 1L./'-I7 (: t v; I A VERI M. STEVENS, CONSTANTINE T. COSTOPOULOS, CONSTANCE STEVENS, DONALD STEVENS, AND PAMELA ROLAND, CIVIL ACTION - AT LAW : IN CUSTODY Defendants COMP] ,A]NT TO CONFIRM A NO MOOTFY OROFR OF P A RTT A], CTTSTOOV A NO PFTTTTON FOR SPFCT A], RF.] ,TRF AND NOW comes the Plaintiff, Thomas C. Costopoulos, and avers the following: 1. The Plaintiff, Thomas C. Costopoulos (hereinafter referred to as Grandfather), is an adult individual who currently resides at 127 Regency Woods North, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania 17013. 2. The Defendant, A veri M. Stevens (hereinafter referred to as Mother), is an adult individual who currently resides in Plainfield, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. 3. The Defendant, Constantine T. Costopoulos (hereinafter referred to as Father), is an adult individual who currently resides at 138-A N. Hanover Street, Apt. A, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 17013. 4. The Defendant, Donald Stevens (hereinafter referred to as Great-grandfather or Great- grandparent), is an adult individual currently residing at 44 Conway Street, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 17013. 5. The Defendant, Constance Stevens (hereinafter referred to as Great-grandmother or Great- grandparent), is an adult individual currently residing at 44 Conway Street, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 17013. 6. The Defendant, Pamela Roland (hereinafter referred to as Grandmother), is an adult individual currently residing at 7001 Roland Road, Huntingdon, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, 16652. 7. The subject child is Noah Ryan Cates Costopou10s (hereinafter referred to as the Child), a minor, born September 9, 2000. The child is presently in the custody of his Great- grandparents, Donald Stevens and Constance Stevens, who currently reside at 44 Conway Street, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Penosylvania, 17013. 8. Mother and Father were never .narried to each other and the child was born out of wedlock. 9. The relationship of Plaintiff Thomas C. Costopoulos to the child is that of natural paternal grandfather. Grandfather currently resides with his wife (the child's step- grandmother), Jeanne B. Costopoulos, at 127 Regency Woods North, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Penosylvania 17013. 10. The relationship of Defendant Averi M. Stevens to the child is that of natural mother. Mother currently resides with her boyfriend, Daniel Lescalleet, in Plainfield, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. 11. The relationship of Defendant Constantine T. Costopou10s to the child is that of natural father. Father currently resides with his girlfriend at 138-A N. Hanover Street, Apt. A, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 17013. 12. The relationship of Defendants Donald Stevens and Constance Stevens to the child is that of natural maternal great-grandparents. Great-grandparents have stood in loco parentis to the child since at least May of 2002. 13. The relationship of Defendant Pamela Roland to the child is that of natural paternal grandmother. Grandmother currently resides with her husband (the child's step- grandfather), Walter Roland, at 7001 Roland Road, Huntingdon, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, 16652. 14. Since birth, the child has resided with the following persons and at the following addresses: Name Ac1c1r".. Da1es Great-grandfather Great-grandmother 44 Conway Street Carlisle, PA 17013 5/10/02 to present* *Following obtaining inpatient drug treatment, Mother stayed with Great-grandparents during various periods when Father was incarcerated. Mother resided with Father at various locations until December of 2004 when Father was incarcerated for several months. Mother subsequently resided with various boyfriends (some of who were incarcerated at some point during the relationship). Regardless of where Mother has resided since May of 2002, including those periods she resided with Great-grandparents, Great-grandparents have stood in loco parentis to the child and have been the primary caretakers of the child for the past several years. Father Mother 1950B Fry Loop Carlisle, PA 17013 Jan. 2001 to 5/10/02 Father Mother : 7 E. Louther Street Carlisle, P A 17013 birth until Jan. 2001 15, An Order of Court dated October 22, 2003 docketed at 03-819 was entered as to Grandfather's rights of partial custody. This Order has been attached hereto as Exhibit A. A separate Order dated October 22, 2003 docketed at 03-4478 was entered regarding custodial rights of Mother and Father. This Order has been attached hereto as Exhibit B. No Orders of Court have yet been entered regarding the custodial rights of Great- grandparents or Grandmother, although it is believed and therefore averred that Great- grandparents have been the primary caretakers of the child since 2002 and therefore stand in loco parentis to the child. It is further believed and therefore averred that Grandmother has been consistently exercising partial custody of the child approximately one weekend per month at her home in Huntingdon. Grandfather does not know of a person not currently named as a party to the proceedings who has physical custody of the child or claims to have physical custody or visitation rights with respect to the child. 16. Grandfather seeks to confirm his partial rights and to modifY the October 22, 2003 Order as follows: a. The order should reflect that Great-grandparents have primary physical custody. b. The order should reflect that Great-grandparents and Mother and Father have shared legal custody of the child. c. The order should reflect the partial custody rights being exercised by Grandmother, d. For the most part, all communication regarding periods of partial custody has been directly between Great-grandmother and Grandfather, without participation of Mother. Grandfather requests that a provision be included in the order directing all communication to be between Grandfather and Great-grandparents and prohibiting Mother from directly contacting Grandfather. e. Historically, all custody exchanges have taken place at the home of Great- grandparents. Grandfather requests this to be reflected in the order. He further requests that Mother be prohibited from being present at the exchanges, f. For the past several month~, Grandfather has exercised custody of the child a minimum of one Saturday per month for a minimum of six hours. In an effort to avoid unnecessary contact with potentially hostile parties, he is now seeking that the Order specifically grant him the 2nd Saturday of each month from 11 :00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. In addition, Father is additionally requesting alternating Thursdays from 4:00 p.m. to 7;00 p.m., every third major holiday from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the day of the holiday, and one week of exclusive custody each summer. g. Grandfather requests the court to make other adjustments to the custody schedule as deemed necessary based upon the findings of a psychological evaluation of Mother, and possibly the child. h. The best interests and permanent welfare of the child will be met by granting the relief requested because Grandfather has established a very close bond with the child and the child looks forward to spending time with his paternal grandfather and step- grandmother. Also during Grandfather's custodial periods the child also gets to spend valuable time with his paternal great-grandmother, Catherine Costopoulos, age 90. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests this Honorable Court to enter an order setting forth specific periods of partial physical custody of his grandson as more specifically stated above. PRTTTTON FOR SPIU'T AT, RRT JRF Paragraphs 1 through 16 are incorporated herein by reference as though fully set forth. 17. 18. Grandfather seeks special relief in that he is requesting the court to order Mother to obtain a psychological evaluation and to enroll in an anger management program. He is further seeking that the child be interviewed and/or evaluated by a licensed child psychologist. In support of his request for special relief, Grandfather alleges the following: a. Mother has a severe anger problem and consistently disrespects people with whom the child has closely bonded. She uses extremely foul and vulgar language regardless of whether or not the child is present. b. Mother has repeatedly made disparaging remarks regarding Father, Father's girlfriend, Grandfather, and Grandfather's wife in the presence of the child. c. Due to her struggles with drug addiction and alcoholism, Mother has neglected her parental duties since the child's birth such that the child has been more closely bonded with Great-grandparents than with Mother since he was less than one year old. The child continues to be more closely bonded to Great- grandparents than with Mother. d. On May 27, 2004, Mother was arrested in Dauphin County for drug possession with intent to deliver. As a result of her behavior of swearing at and spitting on the arresting officers, Mother was also charged with disorderly conduct. She was granted ARD, but a motion to revoke ARD was filed September 20, 2005. A revocation hearing was subsequently held on November 28, 2005 but revocation was held pending compliance with additional requests of the judge. It is believed Mother recently received an "Unsuccessful Discharge" of the case. e. Mother obtained an abortion in approximately October of 2004 after becoming pregnant to a man from Jamaica, New York. Throughout the year of 2004, Mother repeatedly threatened to take the child and move to New York if Great- grandparents failed to continue supplying her with a car, cigarettes, and cash. f. Great-grandparents caught Mother taking drugs in their home on November 8, 2004 and told her to leave their home. g. Late afternoon on Monday, February 27, 2006, Mother called Grandfather to tell him that Father did not show up for work one morning (Father works with Mother's boyfriend). She said she believed Father was doing drugs again and that she was going to tell his parole officer. She further stated that she wished Father would overdose on drugs and die. Grandfather called Father and told him Mother's allegations regarding drug abuse and Father then called Mother's boyfriend regarding Mother's statements to Grandfather. Father then called Grandfather and asked him to call Mother's boyfriend to confirm what Mother had said since Mother's boyfriend was skeptical hearing it from Father. Grandfatner then called Mother's boyfriend and confirmed the statements Mother had made to him. At 9:20 p.m., Mother left Grandfather an offensive message on his cellular telephone in which she called him a "dumb motherf"'**er", told him "you're done seeing Noah...everything is done", accused him of running his "f"'**ing little Greek f"'**ing mouth about dumb little shit", and ended the call with "it's on now, bitch". h. Despite having received the offensive message from Mother on February 27, 2006, and assuming that Mother was probably either high or intoxicated when she had left the message, Grandfather called Great-grandparents' home on Sunday, March 5, 2006 at 12:00 p.m. and left a message regarding when he could make arrangements to see the child. 1. On March 6, 2006 at 1 :00 p.m., Mother called Grandfather on his cellular phone and told him Great-grandparents didn't want him calling their home anymore, that she wasn't going to deal with him either, and that they had "big bucks" to fight him in court to prevent him from seeing the child again. A Petition for Contempt has been filed simultaneously with this Complaint. J. Mother fails to realize and appears not to be concerned with the detrimental impact her actions and words have on the child. Mother has historically demonstrated her own selfish agenda and has never hesitated to use the child as a pawn to either obtain what she wants or to get revenge on those who have disagreed with her twisted logic. WHEREFORE, Grandfather requests this Honorable Court to order Mother to obtain a psychological evaluation and to enroll in an anger management program. He further requests that Great-grandparents take the child to be interviewed and/or evaluated by a licensed child psychologist and that all parties be required to cooperate with the child psychologist as requested by the child psychologist. Respectfully submitted, iJ L \Sl Thomas C. Costopoulos c/o Jeanne B. Costopoulos, Esquire 3803 Gettysburg Road Camp Hill, P A 17011 Telephone; (717) 920-2500 THOMAS C. COSTOPOULOS, Plaintiff vs. A VERI M. STEVENS, CONSTANTINE T. COSTOPOULOS, CONSTANCE STEVENS, DONALD STEVENS, AND PAMELA ROLAND, Defendants : THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA : No. CIVIL ACTION - AT LA W IN CUSTODY VF,RTFlCA TTON I, Thomas C. Costopoulos, hereby verify that the statements made in the foregoing document are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief. I understand that false statements herein are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa. C.S. S 4904, relating to unsworn falsification to authorities. Date: ~ \). oCJ Sigom=J ~ (,,, Q Thomas C. Costopoulos EXHIBIT A ~Cl.l 72003 ~V if THOMAS C. COSTOPOULOS Plaintiff IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA vs. 03-819 CIVIL ACTION LAW A VERI M. STEVENS AND CONSTANTINE COSTOPOULOS Defendant IN CUSTODY ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, this 12rJ day of &to beR , 2003, consideration of the attached Custody Conciliation Report, it is ordered and directed as follows: upon 1. The prior Order of this Court is vacated and replaced with this Order. 2. The Paternal Grandfather shall have periods of custody with the Child, Noah Costopoulos, on altemating Thursdays from 5:00 pm until 8:30 pm. 3. The parties shall cooperate in selecting a different weekday evening if it is necessary to accommodate class or work schedules. 4. The Paternal Grandfather shall provide transportation for all exchanges of custody under this Order. 5. This Order is entered pursuant to an agreement of the parties at a Custody Conciliation Conference. The parties may modify the provisions of this Order by consent of all parties. In the absence of consent of all parties, the terms of this Order shall control. BY THE COURT, ISI~mtin d~'M) J. cc: Charles Rector, Esquire - Counsel for Paternal Grandfather Marcus A. McKnight III, Esquire - Counsel for Mother 'fRm: Constantine T. Costopoulos, Father EXHIBIT B ~ l? . CONSTANCBS'J1lVBNS AND AVWM. STBVBNS, Plaintiff IN: TaB CQI.....T OF COMMON PL.:lWl OF CUMIloBR1...AND COUNTY ,l'BNNS'lLV ANlA va. m.44'll ClVILACTION LAW CONSTANTINE T. roSroPOULOS :otA:ttdam IN CUSTODY omnmOFOOURT AND NOW, Cllis z,'2.~ d~ of OchI"..4.oo , :1000, \lp ~d.eraticm offMltliclbsd Oatody ~1lC\ RepQl(, it if Otdmd and tl~ 1II followa: 1. 11'16 MolbR. A\II!Irl S1OVlll1S, IblIli lla.'t'~ mlo 108&1 CIIdody or Noah CoI~pa;lOil, bam S~/.eulhN 9, 2000 for 1Ii1l11l.OIltN 'betInnill.i QIll tb. daI= offhlt 0nW. Thtrtaftor, ~ MaY, 11I1\11 Pl!Itl:J.fr. Ol~f T. CIlilopOlllot. $halt il&ve .hm4I.~ ~l, aftho ctI.ilil. wl.\mby ~ Jl'MOIlt m.n 111"0 !Ill tII{IlBI right. tel b. .<<oiwt jointly widI dI6 otlIet pcllBt, Ie ~ all lllmior JUlIl.o e.m.1I1&GW>1I deGilirml .tr~tfng tb. ChU4'I JOlIn >\Ie!l.bdnJ lnell.1c1in& Ilut uot limitlld to, all ~cS rop.rd.lllJhia bN.11h, Ilduc&tloll.lll4nli~. tursu8llt1tJ thOICmlt oi'tb.ifPlI1'8Sl"iph tIIM tlllMC\hlllU 13... f.ilIll.tled 10 aJll'eOOIlla ~ 1n!'on11lllo11 perlIiniIli to (he ChIld lnoJ1.lI11lli> bl.lt uot liaUi.cd Iel, a<:hoo1lllld rncdillII1 roeomllW in~licll. 2. Tho Mo(OO iihs1l hAvoprlml!Y 1l1l~lll:llrlQ4:y(\fIM03lld. 3. 'Ibt>P"lIba.U h&vopndl ctOl$>dywitll. tho C\ild lbrJ.S ILoIlR QZl~dl,~ GIloh 91W with 1bo 1]*1l1k. tl:mea and dA}'II tel b.1Jt'llI:1tId by ~t cffho !lwe. fbrty ei&Jrt Aol.ll'4 In ad_ TMPalemIl~, or othot a.cIIlIt ~ by apmnlll\t\)ft!lo,lIil1lo1,1!1a[1 \l1I1I1'N during lbe firtl tl~ ]Mlriocli of ClllUJay tIIllfel' 1ftil! provision. 4. Th... fIatb.er ihl.11 DIm p=i~, of culO1DAy wi1h 1M ClJI4 O'f'W q.;h holiday, with 1h..IpHlfto &lr*ll8w!llrta in be UlablllM4 by lIiM"".,.t bctlveM tho pll'li.ol. Pf ( ,. Thll order it ~ PUlNIlIt to U1.,;mamlllltaftbt 1lt3li1ll ,ot.. Cuatody CtlIlOiIi~ CDNlRIlllo. Thoputiei may rnDdlfYtllopnlvWio... oithll OMll'bYlUlltllat gQlIBC:llt. h1lh&&b~9' mutllllllXl1Ulolllt, 1ht lIlmf ot1hill Or60r IIhIll c:ontIW. . BY THE COURT, --=t- A#. I. co: -1d_ A M~ Ill, :s.qutro . 0;I1IZInl for MAlet:IlI1 GrIn4lnothOl' and M"llLR ..eon1!llll.CiM T. Ot>~. ,.&lit<< JD-X;-~ '-.. <~ ~- J~ ....... , ~ "-' ":)1:::, , ~ ~ '" 8, 'S' --- ~ \ ~~ ~ ";'- ~ ^~ ~ \ "'- . . ~ '" ,,'\ ~ ~~ ~. ~ THOMAS C. COSTOPOULOS PLAINTIFF IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA V. 06-1447 CIVIL ACTION LA W AVERI M. STEVENS, CONSTANTINE T. COSTOPOULOS, CONSTANCE STEVENS. DONALD STEVENS AND PAMELA ROLAND IN CUSTODY DEFENDANT ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, J\1_~n.d_aY-,.1\1~~cI12~,}0()1t... __._..' upon consideration of thc attached Complaint, at 39 West Main Street, Mechanicsbu.rg,~A_)7055 _ on Tuesday, April \1,2006 , the conciliator, at.!..l:3o....AM it is hereby directed that parties and their respective counsel appear before Dawn S. Sunday, Esq. for a Pre-Hearing Custody Conference. At such conference, an effort will be made to resolve the issues in dispute; or if this cannot be accomplished. to dctine and narrow the issucs to bc heard by the court. and to enter into a temporary ordcr. All children age five or older may also bc present at the conference. Failure to appear at the conference may provide grounds for entry of a temporary or permanent order. The eourt hereby directs the pllrties to furnish any and all existing Protection from Abuse orders, Special ){elief orders, llnd Custody orders to the conciliator 48 hours prior to scheduled hearine, FOR THE COURT. By:~_ Dawn S. Sunday, Esq. Custody Conciliator ~ The Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County is required by Jaw to comply with the Americans with Disabilites Act of 1990. For information about accessible facilities and reasonable accommodations available to disabled individuals having business before the C01l11, please contact our oftice. All arrangements must be made at least 72 hours prior to any hearing or business bel()fc the cour\. You must attend the scheduled conference or hearing. YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS PAPER TO YOUR ATTORNEY AT ONCE. IF YOU DO NOT HA VE AN ATTORNEY OR CANNOT AFFORD ONE. GO TO OR TELEPHONE THE OFFICE SET FORTH BELOW TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU CAN GET LEGAL HELP. Cumberland County Bar Association ':'"7 '_I ~~~ #?/ -1. /f!J'~"'Vi/ ~~7 ~JW f!t/ N .~ /! I""?T'?'~/ ~.,~ v ~ fl ~P'1/ ;c;f;z1 j'r{l ~?c7/F C 'J/'Ier '/r;; 'IF" E' ,,".Y:ld :' ;':"~~/~nJ q? '8 !!H I (; ~~[,l 9ilOZ .I l;.. '.llJ . --Hi '0 "'\../'("""'-:):'""':-1 _i .::: ^e';,l.,-h"V:";~'.'~'>>:::1 ...l ::'(\\,-1"'\1 j-...JJ l!::J ....'.J -,_, __ ~ THOMAS C. COSTOPOULOS Plaintiff IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA vs. 06-1447 CIVIL ACTION LA W A VERI M. STEVENS, CONSTANTINE T. : COSTOPOULOS, CONSTANCE STEVENS, DONALD STEVENS AND PAMELA ROLAND Defendant IN CUSTODY ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, this /5 . day of /}-/'",') , 2006, upon consideration of the attached Custody Conciliation Report, it is ordered and directed as follows: 1. The prior Order of this Court dated October 22,2003 (Docket No. 03-4478) shall continue in effect and is hereby incorporated into this Order at this Docket Number. 2. The prior Order of this Court dated October 22,2003 (Docket No. 03-819) is vacated. 3. The paternal Grandfather, Thomas C. Costopoulos, shall have partial physical custody of Noah Costopoulos, born September 9,2000, on the fourth Sunday of every month from I :00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. The paternal Grandfather shall provide all transportation for exchanges of custody before and after his periods of custody. In the event a period of partial custody falls on a holiday, the parties shall cooperate in rescheduling the custodial period to either the immediately preceding or immediately following Sunday. The paternal Grandfather may have additional periods of custody with the Child as agreed between the parties. 4. The paternal Grandfather's Petition for Contempt is dismissed by agreement of the parties. t; r; :Cll l: 5. This Order is entered pursuant to an agreement ofthe parties at a custody conciliation conference. The parties may modify the provisions of this Order by consent. In the absence of agreement, the terms of this Order shall control. BY THE COURT, .All- in A. Hess J. cc: ~nneth F. Lewis, Esquire - Counsel for paternal Grandfather ~rcus A. McKnight, III, Esquire - Counsel for Mother and maternal Great-Grandparents ~nstantine Costopoulos, Father ~mela Roland, maternal Grandmother ~& /A<<:~~~ ,\9'C O~ THOMAS C. COSTOPOULOS Plaintiff IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA vs. 06-1447 CIVIL ACTION LAW A VERI M. STEVENS, CONSTANTINE T. : COSTOPOULOS,CONSTANCE STEVENS, DONALD STEVENS AND PAMELA ROLAND Defendant IN CUSTODY Prior Judge: Kevin A. Hess CUSTODY CONCILIATION SUMMARY REPORT IN ACCORDANCE WITH CUMBERLAND COUNTY RULE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE 1915.3-8, the undersigned Custody Conciliator submits the following report: 1. The pertinent information concerning the Child who is the subject of this litigation is as follows: NAME DATE OF BIRTH CURRENTLY IN CUSTODY OF Noah Ryan Cates Costopoulos September 9, 2000 Mother/Maternal Great-grandparents 2. A custody conciliation conference was held on April II, 2006, with the following individuals in attendance: The paternal Grandfather, Thomas C. Costopoulos, with his counsel, Kenneth F. Lewis, Esquire, the Mother, Averi M. Stevens, with her counsel, Marcus A. McKnight, III, Esquire, the Father, Constantine T. Costopoulos, who is not represented by counsel in this matter, the maternal Great-Grandmother, Constance Stevens, with her counsel, Marcus A. McKnight, III, Esquire, and the paternal Grandmother, Pamela Roland, who is not represented by counsel in this matter. 3. The parties agreed to entry of an Order in the form as attached. It should be noted that various pleadings have been filed among the parties in this matter to Docket Nos. 04-5693, 03-4478, and 03-819. The parties agreed in the conference as reflected in the Order that all of the custody filings to date in this matter should be consolidated under the most recent Docket No. of2006-1447. f+rJ / ;J., aoiJ& . ({)~ A. ~~ Dawn S. Sunday, Esqui Custody Conciliator Date