Acquitted ex-school teacher Tonya Craft and her attorneys are seeking more time to prepare for an in-depth court hearing after which she hopes to be reunited with her children for good.
The critical hearing in the custody battle, something her lawyers previously have described as “like a trial” that will involve witness testimony, had been scheduled to take place in Hamilton County Circuit Court on July 22.
The court clerk’s office on Thursday confirmed that Ms. Craft’s attorneys requested to put off the hearing indefinitely to make further preparations.
During the docket call on July 23, a new date will be selected or the hearing could possibly go forward the same day, court officials said.
Atlanta lawyer Scott King, one of Ms. Craft’s attorneys, did not return a call Thursday seeking comment on the specific reasoning for postponing the hearing.
The attorney representing Ms. Craft’s ex-husband Joal Henke also did not return a call seeking comment.
Despite Ms. Craft’s continued presence in the media spotlight in the wake of her May acquittal on 22 counts of child molestation charges, she and her legal team have been reluctant to discuss the more personal custody battle that involves her two children.
Ms. Craft’s daughter was one of three alleged victims in the child molestation trial, but when a Catoosa County Superior Court jury acquitted her of all charges, the former kindergarten teacher immediately began an aggressive fight to get her children back.
At that point, Ms. Craft had been forbidden to see her daughter and had seen her son only sporadically since 2008 when the accusations of child molestation first surfaced.
Ms. Craft also has since filed a $25 million federal lawsuit against her accusers, including Mr. Henke, the entire Catoosa County government and child therapists she claims all conspired to bring a false case against her by manipulating the children involved.
A court hearing in early June finally established a regular visitation schedule, but it took place in Judge Marie Williams’ private chambers.
Judge Williams ordered the details of the agreement to remain under seal because of her belief that the children “do not need to have the details of their day-to-day life public.”
Only one person, Ms. Craft’s mother Betty Faires, spoke after the hearing, saying she thought the visitation schedule was a “step forward” for her daughter and grandchildren.