Dad Sent to Prison for 6 Months after Thousands of Abusive Messages

Tennessee case summary on custody and contempt in divorce.

Texts from ex-husband warrant change in custody and 6 months in jail for contempt..

Emily Ruth Hughes v. Lucas Hughes

The parents in this Clark County, Tennessee, case were divorced in 2019 and agreed to a parenting plan. The parents agreed to a parenting plan that prohibited any contact between them other than text messages regarding their children. Instead, the father sent thousands of texts to try to rekindle romance with his mother. She told him to stop. She also alleged that he talked to the children about the divorce and blamed it on the mother. She also claimed that he had spoken to the children and blamed the divorce on the mother. The court also reduced his parenting time because he was deemed to be emotionally impaired. The court also awarded the mother’s attorney fees. The father then appealed the case to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The first argument was that he had not been properly notified of the contempt charges.

The court of appeals quickly addressed this issue, pointing out that it was raised for the first time in the appeal. The court deemed that the issue was waived.

The next step was to determine whether the contempt finding or sentence was appropriate. The father in particular argued that the sentence imposed was excessive. The appeals court disagreed. They found the charges to be both egregious as well as disturbing. The court found that the father ignored his own attorney’s advice and continued to text. It noted that the father ignored even the advice of his own attorney and continued texting.

Overall, it found the sentence wholly supported by the record.The father also argued that the trial court should not have modified his parenting time, but

the appeals court agreed that they change was supported by the emotional impairment the father suffered. The appeals court awarded the mother’s attorney fees before affirming the trial judgement.