WROC TV News 8 Now, Rochester, New York: March 27, 2006, 6:00 PM
A computer print out photograph is as close as Rachel Bevilacqua can get to the two men in her life these days. Her husband is home in Columbus, Georgia, and she is in Western New York, fighting to get her son back.
"I can't call him on the phone. No. I can't write him a letter. No. I can't send him a present. No. I can't have any personal contact with him except during supervised visits and it's just so hard to have the wall between us," Bevilacqua explained. "He's my baby."
Her ten-year-old son, Kohl lived with her and her husband in Georgia. Like she's done many times before, Bevilacqua put her son on a plane to New York to visit his father in Orleans County for Christmas. However, this time she didn't get him back.
"This is the longest we've ever been a part," she said.
Bevilacqua said her son's father filed for full custody during his visit and a judge granted it without contacting her. She flew to New York to fight the ruling, thinking it would be an easy fight since she's always had custody. However, Bevilacqua walked out of the Orleans County Court stripped of just about all of her parental rights. This after County Judge James Punch learned of her involvement in a satire performance group that pokes fun at religion, called the Church of the Sub-Genius. Court transcripts back up her claims.
"I've read through the transcripts a million times and he just said it's obvious that I shouldn't have my son. Obvious."
ACLU Director Barbara de Leeuw didn't want to comment on the specifics of the case, but she said there is not getting around the freedom of speech.
"It's a very challenging issue to think that somebody engaged in constitutionally protected activity that there are personal ramifications for it," she explained.
Bevilacqua believes Judge Punch used her to make a political statement.
"I'm a good mother and you can't play games with people's lives like this," she asserted."
Judge Punch refused our previous requests for comment on this case. And we learned he is currently out of town. Bevilacqua will be back in court next month, but in front of new judge. Judge Punch recused himself last week.