Former reality star, Audrina Patridge, and her husband of less than a year, Corey Bohan, are going through a nasty split with Patridge receiving a temporary restraining order against Bohan. The case now appears to have come to a resolution with a Judge awarding full custody of the former couple's 15-month-old daughter, Kirra, to Patridge, and awarding visitation to Bohan. Audrina Patridge Granted Full Custody of Daughter Kirra Max After Split from Corey Bohan, by Char Adams, people.com, October 11, 2017. Since there also is a pending domestic abuse case against Bohan related to the temporary restraining order, the Judge included some safeguards in his Order to protect Patridge. First, Bohan must pick Kirra up at a police station for his visitation time. Second, both parties are required to register for Talking Parents, which is a communication service that will keep records of their conversations. Finally, Bohan must vacate the home the parties shared prior to the split.
This case is a good example of how a Judge can allow a parent with a restraining order against him/her to have visitation with a child, while still protecting the other parent. Here, the safeguards included in the Order are there to protect Patridge as they essentially force all interaction between the parties, whether in person or on the phone, to be public. The Judge was clearly not concerned that Kirra would be unsafe with Bohan because he allowed him to have unsupervised visitation with the child. If the Judge was concerned for Kirra's safety, or if the restraining order included Kirra in its protections, Bohan likely would have either gotten supervised visitation only, or no visitation at all.
If you are going through a divorce with children and there is a restraining order in play, do not hesitate to ask for similar safeguards. If the facts of the case do not call for supervised visitation or a denial of visitation, but you have reason to feel frightened of your ex, make sure the Judge knows it so he/she can put appropriate restrictions in your Order such as a public visitation exchange place and communication via text or email only. Safeguards such as those, where each party will be held accountable for their actions, will hopefully help the parties make the best of having to co-parent.