In Jansen v. Jansen, decided Thursday by the Michigan Court of Appeals (Presiding Judge David H. Sawyer and Judges Jane E. Markey and Brock A. Swartzle), the court changed custody of two daughters from the mother to the father, for many reasons. But two of the factors that the court specifically noted as significant struck me as worth noting: the mother's "inappropriate conversations with the children about her sex life" and her negligence in leaving a sex toy where EJ and a friend found it":
The trial court specifically indicated that the following factual grounds established proper cause and a change of circumstances: (1) defendant's inattentiveness to EJ's medical and health needs [EJ had apparently become morbidly obese -EV], (2) defendant's relinquishment of her parenting time to pursue her personal goals, (3) defendant's inappropriate conversations with the children about her sex life, (4) defendant's unacceptable behavior involving wrestling with the children, (5) defendant's negligence in leaving a sex toy where EJ and a friend found it, and (6) defendant's inability to control her anger and interact appropriately with the children as demonstrated by a recorded conversation….
[T]here was evidence that defendant [mother] discussed the parties' sex lives with the children multiple times. She told the children that she had dated a man with "erectile dysfunction," which she deemed appropriate to share with the children. [Elsewhere in the opinion, the court noted that the mother had also discussed the father's sex life. -EV] And defendant {negligently} left a sex toy on her bed that her children discovered. Of note, at the time of the de novo hearing, EJ was only 11 years old and JJ was only 10 years old….
Likewise, the court noted that it counted against the mother:
