Man Ignores Order to Return Grandson

An Inglewood man has ignored an order from a Riverside County Superior Court judge to return his grandson to the gay couple who raised him since infancy, a prosecutor said Sunday.

Paul Washington Sr. has refused to reveal the whereabouts of his 10-year-old grandson, Miguel, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Tex Ritter, who heads the Riverside County Child Abduction Unit.

Miguel has been in the custody of his uncle, Paul Washington Jr., and his partner Timothy Forrester, since he was 8 days old. Miguel’s grandfather picked him up from the couple’s Cathedral City home on Oct. 6 for an overnight fishing trip and never brought him back, the younger Washington said.

Instead, he and Forrester received a letter from a Los Angeles law firm Oct. 7 stating that Miguel had been removed from their home and accused the pair of “actively promoting or influencing a gay lifestyle for the minor.”

The letter cited Miguel’s participation in ballet and “gay art class,” instead of baseball, as one reason for the boy’s removal.

“Our primary concern right now is to locate the child and return him to Riverside County,” the prosecutor said in a telephone interview.

But the elder Washington countered in a telephone interview: “He’s with a loving family, and he’s having the time of his life.”

He declined to comment on the child’s whereabouts.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Randall D. White denied a motion Friday by Washington that sought to overturn a temporary order granting custody to the his son and Forrester.

Allegations by the grandfather that Miguel suffered physical abuse at the hands of his uncle were not substantiated, according to the prosecutor.

“There wasn’t any evidence of abuse that would warrant the removal of the child from the home,” Ritter said.

Washington Sr.’s attorney, Bill Hence, did not return messages left Sunday.

Prosecutors may pursue felony child abuse charges against the elder Washington, Ritter said.

“We always consider a charge of child abuse and/or child endangerment when a child is removed from his home,” Ritter said.

Miguel was born in 1990 to Angelena Washington, the younger Washington’s mentally disabled sister, who, according to her family, was impregnated while living in an assisted-care facility.

Miguel has lived with Washington Jr., with the family’s permission, since he was 8 days old, although the district attorney’s office has been unable to determine who had legal custody, Ritter said.

Before he was taken by his grandfather, Miguel lived with his uncle, a Home Depot salesman, and Forrester, a middle school teacher. The three lived in Cathedral City, 110 miles east of Los Angeles.

“I can’t explain to you the grief and the agony that we are going through right now,” said Washington Jr. “We love him very much, and we’re doing everything we can to get him home.”

Miguel’s grandfather plans to send the boy to live with a relative in Pennsylvania, the younger Washington said.

“My dad doesn’t even want him,” he added. “He just wants him to live in what he calls a normal, black heterosexual household.”