Tug-of-love dad walks free from court

A man who lost custody of his son but still kept him for nearly 15 months has been convicted of refusing to follow a court order by Xuhui District People’s Court.

A Bin divorced Xiao Fang and the two went to court for custody of their newborn son in June 2016. Custody was granted to Xiao Fang.

A Bin was informed of the court’s decision in October 2016, but instead of handing the boy over, he kept him.

After the court intervened, A Bin claimed that he had sent his son to his hometown in Hubei Province where he was being raised by his grandparents.

The court told A Bin several times that he must follow the court order. In February 2017, he promised to persuade his parents to return the baby to his ex-wife within 10 days.

Ten days later, the baby had still not been given to Xiao Fang.

The court lost contact with A Bin as he closed his clothing store in Shanghai, changed his mobile phone number and moved house.

The court put him on a blacklist and imposed a fine of 30,000 yuan (US$4,350).

Ignoring a court decision violates the criminal law.

Xaio Fang said the boy had been well taken care of and that she had forgiven A Bin, who was given no custodial sentence, very unusual in Chinese criminal cases.