GIRARD ADOPTION Asentes continue their fight

The local couple said they'll go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- Richard and Cheryl Asente hoped a five-year, two-state custody battle would end in the Kentucky Supreme Court.
It didn't.
The court ordered Thursday that the Asente case be returned to a lower Kentucky court.
"We were hopeful it would have ended at the Kentucky Supreme Court," Richard Asente said as he stood outside his Sioux Trail home.
The couple adopted Justin, now 6, in February 1998, shortly before his first birthday.
The Asentes had adopted Justin's 7-year-old brother, Joey, in 1995. His adoption is not an issue.
The boys' biological mother, Regina Moore of northern Kentucky, and Jerry Dorning, the man who said he is their father, gave both boys up for adoption.
Two months after Justin began living with the Asentes, Moore and Dorning changed their minds and asked for his return.
Richard Asente hadn't read the latest court ruling Thursday and decided not to comment specifically.
"We just focus on what is right for Joey and Justin. They're both our children," he said, pointing out that any decision about Justin affects Joey because they are brothers.
Trying to shield boys
He said the boys are doing fine. He said he and his wife have tried to shield them, but declined to comment about their knowledge of the case.
It took the Kentucky Supreme Court 16 months to review the case before deciding not to act.
The justices said there was "substantial evidence to support" a trial judge's ruling that the birth parents did not know what they were doing when they signed an arguably confusing adoption consent form.
The court ordered the trial judge, Patricia Summe of Kenton County, to decide the case and award custody "on the basis of Justin's best interest."
The justices said Judge Summe imposed a much higher standard in requiring the Asentes to show by "clear and convincing evidence" that Moore and Dorning were so unfit that their parental rights could be terminated involuntarily.
The Asentes have vowed to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
At last count, the Asentes' legal expenses have exceeded $500,000.
Their story has been featured on "The Today Show," "20/20" and "Oprah."
yovich@vindy.com