This is a judicial opinion, so almost by definition, we know that it didn't work out that well in the end. But even the dry recitation of its beginning -- wholly apart from the fact that it's in an opinion -- would give most people pause as to how it might eventually play out. Here's the opening statement of facts:
"Jones and Fairfield met online in 2013. At that time, Jones was fifty years old, a British citizen living in France; Fairfield was an eighteen-year-old high school student in the United States."
Yeah, that's probably not the perfect setup for a fairy tale.
They end up marrying and having a kid, and then get divorced (shockingly!) shortly thereafter. The fight in the Ninth Circuit is about whether the child -- which one parent took (without consent) from France to the United States -- should be returned to France.
How's the marriage go? Uh, not well:
"According to
Fairfield: Soon after Jones began working from home, she
discovered him viewing child pornography. On another
occasion, she caught Jones watching child pornography while [the child] was in the room. Fairfield further discovered that
Jones had downloaded hundreds of files of child
pornography."
(I'm shocked -- shocked -- that a 50-year old guy who has online dates with teenagers from another country might have an interest in child pornography.)
Mind you, Fairfield denies all of this. Though -- and, again, I know this will be a total surprise -- "[h]e does, however, acknowledge his prior Texas conviction for possessing child pornography."
(It's a sad testament that, with respect to this part of the opinion, "Fairfield asserts Jones never told her about this conviction and she only discovered it sometime after the couple separated. Jones contends Fairfield has known all along about his prior conviction.")
Lest the situation be limited to mere kiddie porn:
"According to Fairfield, after she confronted Jones about his child pornography addiction, he “became aggressive” toward her, throwing a glass at her that shattered near Fairfield and their child, tossing the child’s stroller out a window, flipping a table over, holding Fairfield down and screaming that she made him crazy and violent, and on one occasion raping her. Jones acknowledges throwing the glass, but denies that it shattered near either Fairfield or ICJ. He denies Fairfield’s other accusations of abuse and rape.
Between April 24 and May 1, 2020, while the family was still living together, Jones numerous times threatened suicide if Fairfield left him. On May 1, 2020, after Fairfield asked Jones to move to another of their houses, Jones hung himself from a tree outside their home. He survived after Fairfield and several neighbors cut him down."
(Plus this: "Fairfield asserts that, at this same time, Jones left the family residence and began living in a tent in order to hide from French authorities because Jones feared they had discovered his child pornography. Jones denies this this was the reason he left the residence.")
It's a crazy world out there, folks.
