In Chicago, an ugly divorce and custody battle has turned into a dispute over a child’s exposure to various religions.

Joseph Reyes, a 35-year-old law student, and his estranged wife are in a heated debate about which religious experiences their child can be exposed to, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

On Tuesday, the child custody case made its way to court, as Reyes was arraigned in a Chicago court. The charge was that he violated a temporary restraining order dictating that he could not expose the couple’s 3-year-old daughter to a religion other than Judaism. Reyes’ estranged wife is the one who ordered the restraining order.

Reyes did not deny taking his daughter to a Catholic cathedral in mid-January. Reyes, who is Catholic, was accompanied to the cathedral by a local television news camera crew.

The couple is in a fierce dispute about whether or not they agreed to raise their child in the Jewish faith. Reyes has argued firmly that they never agreed to such a provision of child-rearing, nor did they keep kosher or observe the tenets of the faith, and that they only went to synagogue together with their daughter.

Joseph Reyes had converted to Judaism after the birth of their daughter, though he had returned to Catholicism when the couple separated. Rebecca Reyes was not present at the hearing, and her attorneys did not wish to make a statement about the case.

According to court records, Rebecca Reyes filed the restraining order in question after Joseph sent her a photo of their daughter at her baptism at Queen of Martyrs Catholic Church.

I sent her pictures which she took as malicious, said Joseph outside of the courtroom. He offered that he sent the pictures merely to share his daughter’s experience getting dressed up and enjoying the occasion.

Cook County Circuit Judge Edward Jordan approved the restraining order, however, and an appellate court threw out Joseph Reyes’ appeal. When he and his attorneys appeared in front of Judge Jordan again, they requested that a new judge be assigned to the case. Judge Jordan granted that request.

If Joseph is found to be in violation of the temporary restraining order, he could be sentenced to six months in jail and a $500 fine.

Joseph Reyes had a lot to say about the situation, even as his estranged wife chose not to publically discuss it. This is, in her mind, more about control, he said. He went on to explain that he converted to Judaism because of pressure he felt from his wife. When it came to his daughter’s religious upbringing, he was conflicted, but felt pushed by his wife.

Rebecca pushed me in the direction of waiting to come by it on her own, he said. On the decision to raise their daughter in a Jewish household, he said Maybe Rebecca decided unilaterally, but I never signed on to that.

Rebecca Reyes currently has sole custody of their daughter, and Joseph Reyes takes her every other weekend and every Thursday evening. The divorce case in ongoing.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 10:34 am and is filed under Divorce News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.