Save Leo

[abelenkpe]

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this post so apologizes in advance.

Right now due to a custody battle my son's friend Leo is scheduled to be deported to Italy on June 1, 2012 and returned to his abusive father. We are devastated! Does anyone have any ideas on how to help spread news of this story? Or other ideas on how we could help Leo stay with his mother and in the country? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm just totally at a loss.

Here is more info from a recent article on a blog called Global Echo Online Forum about their story:

http://geof.us/index.php?id=62

A 6 year old boy with bright eyes that light up your heart. He tries to keep a straight face, when telling his Mom his latest joke. His curly dark hair that falls so innocently against his sweet face. He is in love with Star Wars and is dedicated to writing the next episode. There is a peace about him, as he shows his mother how he can meditate. His mother loves when he wears his rainbow clown wig. She can see the smile in his eyes and feel the laughter in his heart. Eager and ready, he loves to learn! He does architectural design on the computer at home. He is jovial, young and free, as all 6 year olds should be! He loves LIFE! This is Leo Rigamonti TODAY!

Unfortunately, he was not always this way.

On Wednesday May 9, 2012, I interviewed Lura Calder near the grounds of my son Jediah's elementary school. With children enjoying youth and playing energetically in the background, Lura shared her story of her fight to keep her son, Leo, HOME and SAFE in the United States:

In 2010, Leo and his mother Lura fled Parma, Italy for Los Angeles, California, in fear of the risk to their safety at the hands of an abusive husband and father.

(much more at link)

[Chan790]

1. Not sure if it's the right place or not...

because I'm not taking a position on the central issue of the post (Custody fights are messy (I know, I was the subject of one between two abusive alcoholics. The right parent won thankfully.) and I like to have both sides. Nothing personal.)...but if they have not yet started one, Change.org petitions have been effective in drawing broad bases of attention on the internet and sometimes getting results...mostly because they're tweetable and Facebook-integrated which is going to reach a lot more people than DU.

Posting a Change.org petition-signing request one time generally has been permissible here as long as the subject of the petition is relevant to the Forum or Group it is posted to. That's just my observation and not based on anything said officially by the Admins.