Kelly Rutherford's Kids Not Coming Back to the U.S. Yet, Judge Halts Order Amid Concerns About Custody Battle Allegations

Judges in Monaco and Los Angeles scheduled to confer about the case on June 11; each side has accused the other of not being honest about the situation

By Natalie Finn May 29, 2015 8:46 PMTags
Kelly RutherfordAndrew Toth/Getty Images

Kelly Rutherford's children remain an ocean away for the time being.

A Los Angeles judge has halted another court's order that allowed for the actress' two kids to return to the United States immediately after having lived with their father in Monaco for more than two years. While Rutherford has been able to visit her 5-year-old daughter Helena and 8-year-old son Hermes, she has not been able to bring them back to L.A. with her.

According to court documents obtained by E! News, an attorney for her ex, Daniel Giersch, filed documents alleging that the Gossip Girl star "made fraudulent statements, and lied and made misrepresentations by omission" to obtain the favorable custody order, which was issued last week, and that the court in Monaco has jurisdiction over their custody matters.

Rutherford, meanwhile, had alleged that Giersch was preventing her from seeing the kids, which he denied, and that he had violated the terms of their 2013 shared custody agreement.

Citing concerns about what constituted the alleged violations, family court Judge Maren E. Nelson halted the order giving Rutherford sole custody, noting that the judge who ruled last week may not have been aware that matters of child custody and visitation were under Monaco's jurisdiction as of last October. Judges in Monaco and L.A. are scheduled to confer about the case on June 11, until which the kids will stay put with their dad.

After a federal court seemingly put an end to the battle in Giersch's favor last month, ruling that the children could remain in Europe, Rutherford's insistence that she was being wronged and her vow to prevent this from happening to others became a sort of cause célèbre. Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Selma Blair and Melanie Griffith were among those who either tweeted support or showed up in solidarity at a Children's Justice Campaign event in Beverly Hills attended by Rutherford.

John Sciulli/WireImage

Giersch, meanwhile, had enough of Rutherford's media campaign last week (prior to him losing custody), his attorney, Fahi Takesh Hallin, saying in a statement obtained by E! News that they were taking her comments to the press "very seriously."

"Her statement that anyone who brings the parties' children back to the United States in violation of the custody orders would be considered an American hero, is not only false as this would be an illegal and criminal act, but it creates a very real and present risk for the children's safety," Hallin said. "Kelly's statement that Daniel was deported from the US is false and should not be used to entice danger to the parties' children. Daniel has taken and will continue to take all necessary security measures to ensure that the children are not wrongfully removed from Europe and remain safe, healthy, happy and protected from any such threats to their safety and well-being."

After the federal court ruling in April, Rutherford told ABC News, "I know it's not right. Parents know it. Everyone knows it's not right."

Neither side's attorneys have yet responded to requests for comments on Friday's ruling.

—Additional reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum