In a custody case, the court will look into all aspects of your life. This includes your criminal history.
If you have sex offender status, it can impact your ability to get custody of a child, according to the Nebraska Revised Statute.
One note
You should understand the restrictions on sex offenders for custody also will apply in your situation if someone you live with has a conviction. This applies even if your background is clean and you have no such charges against you. If the court has proof a convicted sex offender lives in your home, it will negatively impact your custody chances because it views this as a potential danger to the child.
Restrictions
No person who has sex offender status can have unsupervised parenting time with a child. This includes regular visitations and overnight stays. The law assumes allowing unsupervised visits would put the child at risk and not be in the best interests of that child.
Exceptions
The rules apply to specific types of charges, but the final decision is always up to the court after considering the circumstances of the conviction, the visitation request and the impact on the child. Some convictions have mandatory restrictions on child custody while others are up to the judge’s discretion.
If a judge feels there is no risk to the child, he or she may grant unrestricted custody arrangements. This may require the individual to prove he or she is not a risk to the child through presenting evidence.
In general, the presumption of the law and the court is someone with a sex offender status represents a risk to the health and safety of a child and should not receive custody without an arrangement for supervision whenever with the child.
