Kelly Rutherford's children, son Hermes, 8, and daughter Helena, 5, will be coming back to the United States for the summer after Superior Judge Mark Juhas ordered the immediate return of the children to the country and granted Rutherford a temporary sole custody.
Rutherford was in a six-year battle of custody with ex-husband businessman Daniel Giersch, ExtraTV reports. The two were divorced in 2010. According to GoDanriver, the previous couple got married in 2006. Rutherford filed for a divorce in 2009 and since then the couple fought for their children's custody until a 2013 custody order issued in Los Angeles allowed Giersch to keep the children.
Since then, Giersch raised the children in Monacco after being deported, Gossip Cop has learned. Rutherford has been questioning the decision, saying that the judgment basically deported her children who are U.S. citizens, too.
Judge Juhas' decision on granting Rutherford custody over the children was due to the ruling on the previous month when Giersch violated their parenting agreement. Rutherford said that their children were supposed to visit her in the U.S., unfortunately this never happened. She added that there were several visits in Monacco when she did not see the children because Giersch did not permit her.
In a report from ExtraTV, the "Gossip Girl" star said, "I've flown back and forth over 70 times to be with our children. The children's father promised the California Court in 2012 that he would apply for a visa so he could be with the children here, but he has failed to do that, and since March of this year, he has prevented me from visiting our children at all."
Giersch's lawyer, Fahi Takesh Hallin, told Judge Juhas that her client had no problems with the children spending their summer with their mother.
However, Rutherford was still doubtful with her ex-husband; she wrote a statement after the hearing expressing her sentiments, "I can't imagine that the children won't be permitted to come to the United States as they've done for the past two summers. But, so far, their father has not kept up his side of the deal, and I am concerned that he will try to further prevent me from spending time with them."
Judge Juhas ordered a new hearing on July 9 to evaluate who between him and the Monaco judge has jurisdiction going forward. It is also possible to grant the jurisdiction to New York courts, since Rutherford moved there since 2013. Both parties, Rutherford and Giersch are expected to give their testimonies during the hearing.
The whole ordeal is a tough battle for Rutherford but she remains hopeful saying, "I hope this is finally coming to an end, and my children will soon be coming home."
