Watkins v. Watkins

Tonda Watkins (defendant) and Matt Watkins (plaintiff) married in February 1996. Tonda and Matt had three children between August 1992 and August 2001 before the couple divorced in 2005. The divorce decree awarded joint custody to Tonda and Matt and provided each parent with equal time with the children. In 2011, Matt filed a complaint seeking to modify the divorce decree and seeking full custody of the couple’s two minor children, Brittni and Cristian. At the time of the complaint, Tonda was living with her boyfriend, Corey Neumeister, and Matt was remarried to Victoria Neumeister. In the complaint, Matt sought full custody by arguing that Tonda was residing with Corey, who was a registered sex offender, and that Corey’s son, Clayton, was a threat to Brittni. The trial court heard evidence that Corey was convicted of the attempted rape of a 14-year-old when he was 21 years old. After conducting a bench trial, the trial court found in favor of Tonda. The trial court concluded that although Corey was a registered sex offender, Corey posed no significant risk to Brittni or Cristian. The trial court did, however, order that Corey not be left alone with Cristian or Brittni. The trial court also ordered no contact between Clayton and the Watkins children but noted that Clayton did not reside with Tonda and Corey, thereby mitigating the risk to the Watkins children. Matt appealed, arguing the trial court erred by granting custody to Tonda despite Corey’s status as a sex offender.