after 9 years?

[angie30]

my 9 years old son who has severe mental illnesses resides with my husband and i in va. the natural father has seen the child once at the age of 3 months. there has been no communication. he was court ordered to pay support which he does pay.
after 9 long years the natural father contacted me last week now wanting to see his son that he so missed.
does he have any rights?

 

[MystiqueNJ]

Unfortunately I believe he does. Because he's been paying child support, even though he's not visited, it probably would not be seen as abandonment. There are some things you might be able to do concerning his visitation though that could help protect your child. After being out of the picture for so long, you could request "getting aquainted" type of visitations before the regular visitations take place, that way your child can get comfortable with him before going alone with him. I'm not sure what could be done now since he has contacted you about visiting, but the fact that he was out of the picture for so long, some judges have been known to change or even take away visitation rights of the non custodial parent if they fail to make any attempts to have a relationship with their child. You should talk to a lawyer in your area to see what your options are. Good luck!