A judge's decision in a child custody case last month provoked a protest outside the Hall of Justice Thursday morning.

The gathering was lead by Erica Sloma, whose online petition calling for Family Court Judge Stacey Romeo to be removed from the bench has garnered over 1,000 signatures.

Later in the day Judge Romeo recused herself from the case. The judge did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Thursday afternoon.

Sloma was joined by friends and supporters who said they are outraged that Judge Romeo awarded custody of two young children to their biological father, who is registered as a level 3 sex offender.

Under the New York State Sex Offender Registration Act, level 3 offenders are considered to be a high risk for committing another sex crime.

"He was convicted of molesting his 6-year-old stepdaughter on the night he married her mother, and a 15-year-old girl with a developmental disability," Sloma said.

The children's aunt, Sloma's partner, was awarded custody in 2014. The niece and nephew were 2 and 3 years old at the time. The biological mother agreed to surrender custody, but the father did not show up for the hearing.

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He later appealed that default decision and asked for a new hearing. Judge Romeo ruled that any events that occurred after the date of the original hearing could not be considered.

"I feel like she [Judge Romeo] very much stacked the case in favor of the biological father," Sloma said. "She refused to hear most of the testimony from the children's therapist who saw some really appalling stuff that was indicative of sexual abuse."

Matthew Rich, the father's attorney, pointed out that the appellate court's decision said there had not been a hearing to determine if there were "extraordinary circumstances" present that would override the inherent right of a biological parent to raise his or her own children.

"The law in domestic relations gives biological parents a superior position to any other family member" when it comes to custody, absent those "extraordinary circumstances," said Rich. "The (appellate court) ruled that there needed to be an extraordinary circumstances hearing and that the evidence for that hearing was limited to the conditions present" on the day of the aunt's June 2014 filing.

Outrage and support

Friends and family members said they can't understand the judge's ruling and want to see the children returned to the aunt who has raised them for the last five years.

"How is it that a sex offender can even be petitioning for custody?" asked Sarah Ambe. "It's disillusioning."

She and her husband Elijah were among a group of supporters who held signs and passed out leaflets in front of the Hall of Justice during pouring rain on Thursday morning. They hoped to raise awareness about the children's plight and hope that it will help lead to a different outcome.

"I want to protect them more than anything else," Ambe said.

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Following a hearing in August, Sloma said the judge imposed a custody agreement that gives the father frequent, unsupervised contact with the children.

Sloma said her partner only agreed to the deal because Judge Romeo threatened to order the children to spend weekends with the father unsupervised until the proceedings were concluded.

Under the agreement, the father will have supervised visits with the children for four hours each week, and then unsupervised visits beginning in December.

Those visits, which began in September, have been traumatic for the children, Sloma said.

"The kids are terrified of him," she said. "They do have memories of being abused, that is really their only memories of him."

Raising awareness

Throughout the legal process, Sloma said she has worked to keep the children's identities private, but she feels she has no choice but to raise awareness about what has happened in the case.

"I want as much as possible to protect their identities, but I want them to be safe," Sloma said.

Sloma has detailed her experience with the case in a webpage called ShameOnJudgeRomeo.com.

She said she worries about other children who may be in similar situations.

"I am appalled that a Family Court Judge would deliver young children to a high-risk sex offender in the middle of a trial, and against the recommendations of at least 4 professional therapists and evaluators, as a method of bullying, to ensure a settlement, rather than continuing trial," Sloma writes at the website. "I’m also horrified that Judge Stacey Romeo refused to hear testimony from the children’s therapist about disclosures of sexual abuse."

Sloma said she hopes she is able to appeal the decision and get it reversed, but she also wants to make sure the same thing doesn't happen to other children.

"Judge Romeo is indifferent to the suffering of children who desperately need a wise and caring arbiter who will hear all the evidence before making decisions which will permanently affect the course of their lives," Sloma wrote in a Facebook post. "We seek to bring greater attention to the dangers awaiting children who depend on the Child Protective system (CPS and Family Court)."

SLAHMAN@Gannett.com

Includes reporting by staff writer Meaghan McDermott

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