Dad Gets Equal Parenting Time, Despite “Criminal” Videos of Mom

After ten years of marriage, the father in this Williamson County, Tennessee, case, filed for divorce in 2020.  At the time, the children were three years old and almost one year old.    There were allegations that the father had viewed pornography on a laptop computer, but the trial court concluded that the children had not been affected.  The father ultimately admitted that he had made upskirt videos of the wife and her sister, and this was considered by the trial court on the issue of custody and visitation.

Ultimately, the trial court made a parenting plan under which both parents were joint primary residential parents, with equal parenting time on alternating weeks.

The mother appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, which first pointed out that the trial court has great discretion, and that parenting plans are based upon the best interests of the children, which is a question of fact.

The mother argued that the lower court erred in naming the two as joint primary residential parents.  The appeals court agreed that this is proper only if both parents agree to such an arrangement.  Therefore, the Court of Appeals modified the judgment, and named the mother the primary residential parent.

It then turned to the amount of parenting time.  The mother argued that the trial court erred in granting equal parenting time.  While there were allegations of abuse, the appeals court noted that the trial court had found no evidence of abuse.  While the court was sympathetic to the mother’s desire for safety, it found that the evidence did not preponderate against the lower court’s findings.  Based upon all of the evidence, the lower court had not abused its discretion in adopting equal parenting time.  Even though the trial court acknowledged the father’s “horrendous criminal conduct” in taking the upskirt videos, there was no evidence of either party abusing the children.  Ultimately, the Court of Appeals affirmed the award of equal parenting time.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed, other than to name the mother the primary residential parent.

No. M2023-01282-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sep. 2, 2025).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Child Custody Laws in Tennessee and our video, How is child custody determined in Tennessee?

See also Tennessee Parenting Plans and Child Support Worksheets: Building a Constructive Future for Your Family featuring examples of parenting plans and child support worksheets from real cases available on Amazon.com.