Justina Pelletier heads home after judge ends state custody
Jun-19-2014

Connecticut teenager Justina Pelletier spent 16 months and two birthdays in state custody as the central but largely off-stage player in an explosive drama involving parents' rights and the controversial new field of medical child abuse. Now she is going home.

On Wednesday, the 16-year-old girl is expected to return to her parents' custody and the family's home in West Hartford, Conn., following a ruling by the same Massachusetts juvenile court judge who originally removed her from her parents' care.

In a two-page order issued Tuesday, Judge Joseph Johnston dismissed the child-protection case against Justina's parents, Linda and Lou Pelletier, arguing that they and others had shown "credible evidence that circumstances have changed" since his decision to place Justina in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. He also wrote that in the month since Justina was moved to a residential facility in Thompson, Conn., her parents "have been cooperative and engaged in services," including individual therapy for Justina and family therapy.

It was a remarkable change in tone from the judge's ruling just three months earlier, when he determined the parents were unfit and awarded permanent custody to the state. At that time, he blasted the Pelletiers for behavior he contended was erratic and had doomed numerous attempts at compromise.

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