my kids picture on the internet-someone else put it there

[lelliott12]

           I have a question and will take ANY advise. My x's new "significant other" has posted my kid's pictures on a public internet site. There is nothing inappropriate about the photos, and I am not jealous, I am just really uncomfortable with the pictures being up there. We had agreed a while back (as my x is a frequent flier on websites like MYSPACE.COM etc) that neither of us would post the kids pictures online...for safety reason. Now not only is the agreement broken but I have basically been told they do not intend to take the pictures down. Since I did not consent to the photos being up there is there anything I can do to get them taken down?

Any help would be appreciated.

E.E.
 

[socrateaser]

>
>
>           I have a question and will take ANY advise. My x's
>new "significant other" has posted my kid's pictures on a
>public internet site. There is nothing inappropriate about the
>photos, and I am not jealous, I am just really uncomfortable
>with the pictures being up there. We had agreed a while back
>(as my x is a frequent flier on websites like MYSPACE.COM etc)
>that neither of us would post the kids pictures online...for
>safety reason. Now not only is the agreement broken but I have
>basically been told they do not intend to take the pictures
>down. Since I did not consent to the photos being up there is
>there anything I can do to get them taken down?
>
>Any help would be appreciated.

It depends on what your court orders say re custody/parenting. Without knowing this, I can't comment on the parties' respective rights concerning the children.

[lelliott12]

We have joint custody.  My x has residential and I have very liberal visitiation, minimum of every weekend.  

If it isnt my x that has the image up, it is someone unrelated to the child does that make a difference?

It is very frustrating, perhaps I am being over protective but you hear nightmare stories about this kind of stuff all the time.  My daughter's name is not on the image, but a comment posted under it has her name in it, and the location of the person who's site this is (home town) is also public knowledge, so there is obvious concern about creeps and how much information they can get.  The person who's site the image is on also lists where this person works and a number of their hang outs so it would be easy for someone to use that information for bad.  Like I said, this is possibly me being over protective but being that it isnt either parent that posted the image, I would hope there is some recourse.

Thanks for your help.  If there is something specific that might help me find an answer I can definitely give more information.  I dont know if it makes a difference as far as laws go but this is all under Illinois jurisdiction.

[socrateaser]

Visitation and joint custody are inconsistent concepts. If your court orders actually use both terms, then you need to have them clarified.

Visitation is a non-delegable license to visit the child(ren). Joint custody is the power to exercise independent control over the children and to delegate or license that power to others.

Visitaiton provides no authority to permit or deny a person to post photos of the kids on the internet, whereas joint custody does.

So, if your court orders actually use both terminologies, then you need to have the orders clarified, because at the moment, your actual authority over the kids is uncertain.

Thus, I can't give you any advice regarding the photos, other than to simply ask your ex(in writing, by certified mail) to delete the photos, because you fear the possibility of a predator taking advantage of the situation.

If your ex refuses, or fails to answer your request, then you could file an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order on grounds that the kids may suffer irreparable harm if the photos are permitted to be maintained on the internet. I don't actually know if this is true, but a judge will likely err on the side of caution and grant the TRO.

[mistoffolees]

You have three possibilities:

1. The legal method to force someone to change. Soc is your best source of information here (other than your own lawyer, of course).

2. Trying to coax the ex wife that the pictures shouldn't be there. If she agrees, she can ask the internet site to take them down.

3. You mentioned joint custody. If you truly do have joint custody, you might want to contact the Internet site and ask them to take them down, providing a copy of your custody papers. They're very sensitive to things like this and might do so, even if you don't technically have the legal ability to force the issue. Ideally, if you can get #2, you and your wife can both write to the Internet site.