Tran v. Nguyen

Truan Anh Tran (defendant) and Sheryn Nguyen (plaintiff) lived together and began holding themselves out as married in 1988. Nguyen had a young daughter from a previous relationship, J.T., and the couple led J.T. to believe Tran was her father until she reached age 10. In time, Tran and Nguyen also had two daughters together, K.N. and P.T. In 2010, Nguyen and Tran separated after Nguyen learned that Tran had been sexually assaulting then 13-year-old J.T. for 12 months. Tran subsequently pleaded guilty to criminal charges for sexual assault and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Nguyen then filed for divorce, seeking dissolution of the couple’s common-law marriage. The process necessarily involved a custody determination. Tran argued that he should be awarded visitation rights regarding then 15-year-old K.N. and 13-year-old P.T. As support, he cited his close relationship with the girls prior to his offense. Nguyen testified that K.N. and P.T. were aware of the nature of Tran’s offense, that P.T. never communicated with Tran postconviction, and that K.T., who initially maintained a relationship with Tran, had recently ceased communication with him. She also testified that she had asked the girls about visiting Tran in prison, but they did not want to go. The trial judge concluded that because of Tran’s conviction, it was not in the girls’ best interests to award Tran visitation rights. Consequently, alongside the divorce degree, the judge issued a custody order denying Tran visitation. Tran appealed.