Custody

If the offender was criminally convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, an act of rape or sexual battery that resulted in your child being conceived, you can bring a case in court to ask the judge to issue an order declaring that the offender is “the parent of a child conceived as a result of rape or sexual battery.”¹ Once this is established, a judge cannot issue an order granting parental rights to the offender. This is true for female and male offenders.² If an order granting parental rights was already issued, the judge must end (“terminate”) that order.³

Note: Termination of any parental rights order does not affect any child support payments that were already legally owed to you by that parent.⁴ Furthermore, any relatives of the offender can only be granted any custody/visitation rights if you agree.⁵

¹ Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.501
² Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.042
³ Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.504
⁴ See Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.507(B)
⁵ Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.506