Parental abduction becomes dad’s cause

Mr. Goldman said his son was the first U.S. child returned from Brazil under the Hague Convention.

As he tried to bring back his son, the calm Mr. Goldman repeatedly said that he would allow his son’s Brazilian grandparents to see the boy.

It was Dec. 24, 2009 when the turnover finally happened. On that day, Sean and his Brazilian family marched a few blocks through a crowded street to their meeting at a U.S. consulate in Rio. It was live on television in Brazil and the United States. Mr. Goldman saw that as a way for the family in Brazil to exploit their heartache.

“They dragged him through the streets, for God’s sake,” Mr. Goldman said. “That shows what they care about - and it wasn’t him.”

Once the boy was on a private jet - provided by NBC, which had covered their story - and heading to Florida, he finally relaxed, his dad said.

So far, visits with his grandparents in Brazil haven’t happened. And in March, the boy’s grandfather, Raimundo Carneiro Filho, died of lung cancer in Rio de Janeiro. His widow, Silvana Bianchi, said he died “with immense sorrow in his soul” because he never got to see his grandson again.

But to Mr. Goldman, it wasn’t so simple.

He says he’s willing to grant Ms. Bianchi time with her grandson so long as it follows his conditions - including that she drop her appeals in Brazilian court seeking to have the boy returned there.

In February, a New Jersey judge sided with Mr. Goldman on the matter.

Mr. Goldman said that he does his best to speak only kindly to his son of the boy’s mother and maternal grandparents.

He offered to let the boy call his grandmother after her husband died but Mr. Goldman said Sean decided to send a card instead. Relatives in Brazil put too much pressure on the boy when they’ve talked on the phone in the past, Mr. Goldman said.

Sergio Tostes, the lawyer for Silvana Bianchi, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. No contact information was immediately available for Ms. Bianchi herself.

Mr. Goldman says he’s mostly concentrating on his son.

He’s taught him to ride a bike and swing a baseball bat and worked on a lot of homework. Despite not having used English regularly for years, he’s getting A’s and B’s, his father said.

Mr. Goldman wells up with pride when he holds up a small video camera to show footage he took of Sean playing with his puppy and Sean whacking a base hit in his first time at the plate in organized baseball.

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