A New York mother is legally barred from posting on her children's Facebook pages, as per a Valentine's Day appeals court decision, the New York Daily News reported.
The mother of three, identified only as "Melody M.", admitted to using Facebook to "insult and demean" her oldest child, according to documents from the Third Department of the State of New York Supreme Court.
Melody was appealing a 2011 order from the St. Lawrence County Family Court that granted the father of her three children sole custody, Divorce NY reported.
The decision to give the man custody stemmed from a "pattern of inappropriate behavior" on the part of Melody, court documents state.
The mother had admitted to writing on her oldest son's Facebook page that he was an "asshole," among other derogatory names. He was 10 at the time.
She told the court that she had called him an "asshole" because "he is," and she wanted her Facebook friends to know it, the documents state.
Melody had also admitted "she swears and yells" at the oldest child, "often resorting to physical means to deal with him." The woman had also refused to take part in her son's counseling. He reportedly has mental health issues.
In addition to granting the father sole custody of the three children, the Family Court "imposed an order of protection against the mother that prohibited her from, among other things, posting any communications to or about the children on any social network site," documents state.
On February 14, the Third Department upheld the protection order, as well as the decision to grant the father sole custody.
According to the New York Daily News, Melody's lawyer, John Cirando, complained that the protection order would prevent his client from posting positive things about her children.
The attorney wrote in the New York Law Journal that it was "unfortunate" Melody is now unable to tell her friends that "her son hit a game-winning home run in a baseball game or scored the winning goal or was on the honor roll."
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