An ex-gay Christian woman is missing with her seven-year-old daughter after a judge ruled her former partner should be given custody.

Lisa Miller gave birth to Isabella in 2002, by artificial insemination, two years into a civil union with lesbian partner Janet Jenkins. In 2003, Miller ended the partnership, taking her child with her. She became an evangelical Christian and renounced lesbianism, refusing Jenkins visitation rights. She demanded child support payments, however.

Due to Miller’s ongoing refusals, which constituted contempt of court, a Vermont Family Court judge granted Jenkins full custody (PDF link) of Isabella in November 2009. Jenkins says she intends to allow Miller “as liberal contact as possible” with her daughter. She was to be handed over on January 1st, 2010.

Now, however, Miller and her daughter have not been seen in a month, prompting fears that the handover will not occur.

Miller has claimed that there is a “homosexual agenda” at work, and her daughter “is a pawn in their game.” She said Isabella was “saved” at the age of four and she denies hating Janet, saying she prays “for her soul and her salvation.”

In a 2008 interview with right-wing Christian website LifeSiteNews, Miller made a number of claims about Jenkins, accusing her of verbal and physical abuse towards her and neglect of the child. There were also none-too-subtle insinuations of sexual abuse, since Jenkins reportedly took a naked bath with the child, and Isabella had started “openly masturbating.”

Evidently Judge William Cohen saw nothing in the charges, since he ruled in favor of custody. But with Miller and her daughter having disappeared, will it ever happen?

Categorized in: