Photo by Ashton Clark on Unsplash

The downfall of Sherrone Moore has been difficult to watch for many reasons and most people I talk to feel the worst for his family.  He made many alleged errors leading up to the termination of his employment at University of Michigan and as is so often the case, it was his actions subsequent to the initial wrong doing that are the biggest problem.  His affair and alleged misconduct with a faculty member would have been problematic but his alleged threats of self-harm, threats toward his alleged mistress and the allegations that he broke into her house are extremely damaging.  It is safe to assume that Mr. Moore's wife has retained counsel and will be filing for divorce based on all that has gone down.

Mr. Moore's Alleged Affair Would Not Have Affected His Ability To Get Custody.

Under Michigan law an affair with another willing adult should not in general affect one's ability to get custody of their children or equal parenting time with their children unless the children were witness to the affair and even then most times it would not have much legal affect on custody or parenting time.  However, when one threatens to commit suicide, that is always a problem.  When that occurs while a divorce is going on or shortly before a divorce is filed, then many times the judge will order limited parenting time with that parent until he or she can be evaluated and obtain therapy to deal with the problem.  No-one wants a child to walk in on their parent after he or she has severely harmed themselves or even worse to witness the act itself.  Once the parent has been cleared by mental health professionals as no longer being a danger to themselves, then the court will allow parenting time with that parent.  If it is required, the parenting time may be phased in over a period of time to make the transition easier for the child(ren) and/or the parent.

To make matters worse in Mr. Moore's case, he allegedly threatened his alleged mistress when she reported that he was stalking her after she ended the affair.  This is hugely problematic for him.  First, it is a crime and he will likely spend some time in jail, during which he will probably not have any parenting time with his children at all.  Second, he can be labeled as a violent and unstable criminal who could lose his control with the children if he has unsupervised parenting time which could lead to horrible consequences.  This means it may be a long time before Mr. Moore will be able to have unsupervised parenting time with his children and the court will order that he meet a number of requirements to prove that he is not a risk to himself or the children.

This blog was written to generally address Mr. Moore's potential legal issues with regards to custody and parenting time based upon the allegations.  This does not even biggen to address the trust and other emotional issues that he will have to work on with his children.  I am sure they must have been devastated by this news and they are truly the biggest victims.  If you are facing divorce or separation, please do not hesitate to contact us to schedule a consultation by clicking on this link or calling (248) 608-4123.