A Long Island woman was sentenced to six weekends in jail after trying to keep her ex-husband from visiting their two daughters. Lauren Lippe reportedly told ex Ted Rubin "We all hope you die from cancer" in front of the girls, and even falsely claimed Rubin had molested one of the girls. Judge Robert Ross ruled that Lippe willfully violated a court order of joint custody by intentionally keeping the children from Rubin.
The New York Law Journal (subscription required) reports on dozens of instances of Lippe keeping the girls from their father. Ross wrote that Lippe smirked while the "defendant emotionally related how he was deprived of spending Hanukkah with his children, and was relegated to lighting a menorah and watching his daughters open their grandparents' presents in the back of his truck at the base of plaintiff's driveway."
Lippe also insulted Rubin in front of their children, and apparently planned last minute trips when he was scheduled to see them. The "crescendo" of the case came with the allegations of sexual abuse, which Ross said were "found to baseless and, by making such allegations, plaintiff needlessly subjected the child to an investigation by Child Protective Services, placing her own interests above those of the child."
Lippe was set to start her six weekends of jail time this past weekend, but the sentence was stayed pending an appeal. Lippe's lawyer, Kieth I. Rieger, apparently said Judge Ross made a "mistake" on par with the umpire call that kept Detroit Tiger Armando Galarraga from pitching a perfect game! He said, "It's extremely unusual, and in this case, it's inappropriate. He chose to believe the husband and not her...She's worried that if she goes to jail how it will affect the children." Maybe she should have thought of that before she cried molestation?
