Libet Johnson's orphan fight continues
Wednesday, February 13th 2008, 4:00 AM
Band-Aid heiress Libet Johnson and ex-boyfriend Dr. Lionel Bissoon are
due back in court to continue their bitter battle over the 5-year-old
orphan they brought here from Cambodia in 2003.
The socialite is appealing Surrogate Court Judge Kristen Booth Glen's
decision in October to vacate Johnson's adoption of the boy after
learning that Bissoon, author of "The Cellulite Cure," had also
adopted the child.
Glen allowed the child to continue living with Johnson, but ordered
that Bissoon be able to visit him twice a week. And the judge wasn't
too happy that Johnson had neglected to tell her she's just gotten out
of five weeks in rehab.
"She didn't tell the court that I was the father," Bissoon told us.
"And she lied about her alcoholism."
Family members testified later that in 2005, Johnson's older children
"noticed that their mother was having trouble with alcohol," according
to court papers. The children hired a professional interventionist
and, along with other members of the extended Johnson & Johnson clan,
waited for her. "[Libet] came into the room where the group had
gathered and immediately knew this was an intervention," the child's
court-appointed guardian testified. "She said that she would do
whatever was necessary because she wanted to get better."
The interventionist took Johnson to The Meadows, a posh rehab facility
in Arizona, and she is apparently still on the wagon. Though she had a
previous stint in rehab at Betty Ford, her nanny testified that
Johnson was not a heavy drinker, and her older son said he thought
"her problem with alcohol was that she was so small and couldn't have
more than a glass of wine," according to court papers. A daughter said
she thought she was "susceptible to alcohol as a result of treatment
for mercury poisoning."
Johnson is appealing Glen's decision giving Bissoon visitation rights
and will face him in court next month.
She could not be reached, but a source close to the matter claimed,
"Libet feels [Bissoon] is never going to be a father to the child.
During negotiations, he asked her for child sup****t, and he wants her
to pay his legal fees. This is a lot about money."
"She tried to use her wealth to bury me," Bissoon told us. "He is my
son. She basically kidnapped him. The moment I saw him, I picked him
up and I promised him I'd never abandon him and that I'd always be
there for him."
|
