Opinion
No. 5D11–4487.
2012-08-2
M.S.B., Father of T.M.B., V.B. & T.W.B., Children, Appellant, v. R.B., Mother of T.M.B., V.B., & T.W.B., Children, Appellee.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Lake County, G. Richard Singeltary, Judge. M.S.B., Lake City, pro se. No Appearance for Appellee.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Lake County, G. Richard Singeltary, Judge.
M.S.B., Lake City, pro se. No Appearance for Appellee.
COHEN, J.
M.S.B. appeals the termination of his parental rights to his three children. The action commenced with the filing of a petition for termination of parental rights and joint petition for stepparent adoption filed by the children's mother and her husband. The basis of the petition and resulting final judgment stemmed from M.S.B.'s incarceration on a series of sexual assault charges involving children under the age of twelve. The most serious of those charges resulted in a sentence of life imprisonment.
.Section 63.089(4)(b), Florida Statutes (2011), provides that where a parent is or will be incarcerated for a significant period of a child's minority, the child is deemed to have been abandoned.
On appeal, M.S.B. concedes the adoption of the children to be in their best interest. However, he seeks continued contact with the children, presumably requiring the natural mother bring the children to his institution. M.S.B. misconstrues the legal impact of the termination of his parental rights and the subsequent adoption by the stepfather.
AFFIRMED.
ORFINGER, C.J., and TORPY, J., concur.