At a child protection hearing on Wednesday, the odd case of the Runaway Dad took a couple of new twists.
Steven Cross still wasn't allowed to see his son, but the court is looking favorably on his attempt to share legal custody with the boy's mother, who Cross' son had long believed was dead. And the aunt with whom the boy has been living told the court there's been suspicious activity around her home.
Cross, 60, was convicted last month by a Dakota County jury of gross misdemeanor child neglect for slipping out of his Lakeville home on July 18 as his 11-year-old son, Sebastian, was sleeping.
Cross, who has sole custody of Sebastian, left a letter for the boy saying that he was leaving and that Sebastian should go to a neighbor's home to stay. Also in that letter, he told Sebastian that his mother, Katik Porter, was alive after all and living in the Twin Cities.
Cross was arrested in August in California, where he had been living in his van.
On Wednesday, Cross and the mother told Dakota County District Judge Richard Spicer that they're working toward sharing legal and physical custody of Sebastian.
Spicer said he would likely be open to the request and scheduled another hearing for March 21.
That hearing will be a day after Cross is to be sentenced on the child neglect conviction. No mention of the criminal case was made during Wednesday's hearing.
Spicer denied Cross' request to see Sebastian, in part because the boy told the judge he does not want to see his father and also because a court-appointed therapist does not recommend that the two should see each other now.
Spicer said the therapist, who has been treating Cross, says the father "lacks empathy for Sebastian" and continues to believe he did not do anything wrong by abandoning him last summer.
"He wants to have visitation with mom, and he's not sure about dad," Spicer said of the boy.
Sebastian has been staying with an aunt while the visitation issue is adjudicated. He appears happy there, Spicer said.
At the end of the hearing, the aunt, Kimii Porter, told Spicer that she had filed a criminal report this month with Maplewood police because someone had been trespassing on her property and because suspicious cars had been driving in her neighborhood.
Throughout the past six months, Cross has been helped by private investigators working voluntarily on his behalf. Spicer told Cross and his attorney that he did not want them or anyone else trespassing or impeding on the lives of Sebastian and the family that he is staying with.
"This is not how we like to live," Kimii Porter said.
After the hearing, Cross said he was pleased that the judge was considering granting joint custody to the mother.
He also acknowledged that he has "more work to do" to meet the court requirements for reuniting with his son. "If his mother wants to get back in his life, I'm happy," Cross said. "I think that would be good for everybody."
Heron Marquez • 952-746-3281