Chicago native Dwyane Wade was part of the winning team in the NBA championship game on Father’s Day, but his sister had spent the night before trying to locate the basketball star’s ex-wife and two young children. Wade and his ex-wife have argued over custody and visitation since their 2010 divorce. In fact, one judge involved in the case said that the effect on the boys, now 10 and 5, was “the saddest thing.”
The boys were again in the middle of a dramatic situation on June 16 when their mother missed a pre-arranged handoff to Wade’s sister. The incident ended up involving Cook County sheriff’s deputies, criminal charges against Wade’s ex-wife and a request to suspend her visitation rights. The former couple appeared in court this week on the visitation matter.
Wade has sole custody of the boys, and his ex-wife has visitation rights, according to their March 2011 agreement. Both have houses in the Chicago area, but Wade was away for the championship game over Father’s Day.
His plan, worked out with the mediator, was to have his sister pick the boys up at their mother’s house around noon. They would then fly to Miami. According to court testimony, though, his sister arrived on time, but neither the boys nor their mother was anywhere to be found.
After a few hours, with phone calls still unanswered, Wade’s sister talked to her sister and the mediator. They decided to call the sheriff for assistance. A neighbor helped them get into the house, and they found the boys and Wade’s ex-wife in the backyard. Deputies arrested the ex-wife and turned the children over to Wade’s sister.
All of this came out in testimony from Wade’s sister. His ex-wife did not take the stand, explaining that she was exercising her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself. The criminal charges — two counts of child abduction and unlawful visitation, along with resisting arrest — have not been resolved.
Wade is asking that his ex-wife’s visitation rights be suspended or curtailed to visitation only with supervision. The decision should be announced within a few days.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times, “Dwyane Wade’s ex-wife takes the Fifth at hearing to end her visitation rights with their kids,” Lisa Donovan, June 26, 2012
