Dead Homosexual’s Friend Wins Custody of His Son, 16

The saga of Brian Batey, the boy at the center of a bitter custody dispute between his fundamentalist mother and his homosexual father, apparently ended Thursday when a judge awarded custody of the teen-ager to the male companion of his late father.

During a hearing punctuated by profane outbursts from Brian’s relatives, Superior Court Judge Judith McConnell appointed Craig Corbett as the youth’s legal guardian, concurring with an independent investigator that the Palm Springs man can provide “a stable, wholesome environment” where Brian can “complete his growing up.”

“This has been a difficult case for all persons involved,” McConnell said after announcing her decision. “(Brian) and the court have been subjected to unprecedented attacks. I hope these will now end.”

Brian’s mother, Betty Lou Batey, and other family members left midway through the hearing, declining to present arguments against Corbett’s appointment. Betty Batey, tearful and nearly hysterical, said it was “useless” for her to testify because the judge “is biased against me and will never let me have my son back.”

“I am not fighting any more,” she said, “because it will do no good. All I can say is that I believe in the ultimate judge, God. We will all stand before Him at sometime, and I have faith that He will return Brian to me.”

Brushing away tears after the hearing, Corbett said he was pleased with the judge’s decision but not optimistic that it marks the end of the turmoil. “You can’t put it behind you,” said Corbett, who has had temporary custody of Brian since July. “It’s been a part of our lives for five years. And it won’t stop now.”

Brian, now a lanky 16-year-old with shoulder-length, light brown hair, left the courtroom with Corbett through a rear exit and could not be reached for comment.

The boy’s attorney, Lee Selvig, said his client “is taking everything remarkably well” but noted that Brian’s state of mind was “not helped in the least bit by the loud outbursts and profane outbursts directed at the court” by his relatives. “He’s a very normal teen-ager at this point and I personally have high hopes he will turn out to be a very productive member of society,” Selvig said.

The custody battle first made national headlines in August, 1982, when Betty Batey disappeared with her son, then 11, rather than allow him to live with his homosexual father, Frank, who had won custody of the boy because Betty Batey refused to respect his visitation rights. After a nationwide hunt, Betty Batey resurfaced in Denver in April, 1984. She spent two weeks in jail for violating the court’s custody order and Brian returned to the home his father shared with Corbett in Palm Springs.

In May, a San Diego Superior Court judge dismissed charges of felony child-stealing against Betty Batey, ruling that she had her son’s safety at heart when she went into hiding with him. A month later, Brian’s father died in surgery while suffering from AIDS.