FATHIMA (RIFQUA) BARY - 16 yo (2009) - Columbus OH

Fathima Rifqa Bary,
the Ohio teen who fled to Florida out of fear her Muslim family would
harm or kill her because she converted to Christianity, was scheduled
to participate in mediation today.

An Orange County judge ordered Bary and her family to participate in mediation during earlier court proceedings.

But because mediation is private and juvenile records are not public,
it's unclear if the meeting will take place today. It's also unknown
where the parties and their respective attorneys would meet.

Rifqa has been in Orlando since July, when she ran away from her home
in the Columbus area and sought shelter with pastors she met through a Facebook prayer group.

Eventually, the 17-year-old was ordered into the custody of the
Department of Children and Families, and she's been in state foster
care in Central Florida since.

Rifqa's parents have said they have not threatened to kill her, and
they want her returned to Ohio. Law-enforcement in both states have
said they found no credible threats against the teen.

The battle over Rifqa is now being played out in courtrooms in Ohio and
Orlando. A hearing is scheduled in the Orange County case Tuesday.

Ohio teen runaway Fathima Rifqa Bary, who has been living in Central Florida for nearly three months, is expected to be back in court this afternoon.

Lawyers in Florida and Ohio have been battling over 17-year-old Rifqa's
fate. Rifqa's family wants her returned to the Columbus area. The teen
wants to stay here.

Rifqa ran away from home in mid-July and said she feared her Muslim
family would harm or kill her because she converted to Christianity.
Her family said her fears are unfounded.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement didn't find any threats.

After arriving in Orlando, Rifqa sought shelter with local husband and wife pastors she met through Facebook, and lived with their family for several weeks.

In early August, an Orange County Circuit judge ordered Rifqa be placed
in custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families. She's
remained in foster care since.

One of the issues that remains unresolved is which state has jurisdiction -- Florida or Ohio.

Last week, the parties involved in Rifqa's case met for mediation.

But because juvenile records are private and mediation is not public, it's not clear what was discussed.

Today's hearing is slated to begin at 2:30 p.m. It isn't publicly known
what will be discussed. It also is not known if Rifqa will appear --
though she has attended previous hearings.

A Florida judge said Tuesday he planned to send a teenager back to
Ohio after she ran away from her home to Florida because she feared
physical harm for converting from Islam to Christianity.Circuit
Judge Daniel Dawson said he will sign an order when he gets documents
on Rifqa Bary's immigration status as well as papers showing the
17-year-old's education at an online Florida high school won't be
interrupted.No date was set for her return. She likely would be
flown to Ohio accompanied by a Florida Department of Children and
Families case worker, officials said.The Ohio judge who will
take over the case, as well as child welfare officials there and
attorneys for Bary's parents, participated in the hearing by telephone.
Rifqa Bary will be placed in the custody of Franklin County, Ohio,
child welfare officials once she returns.Bary has been in foster
care in Orlando while her case was being reviewed. She ran away from
her parents' Columbus-area home in July, saying she feared being killed
for changing religions. But a Florida Department of Law Enforcement
investigation found no credible threats to Bary.Dawson said he
would consider holding Bary's parents in contempt if they didn't turn
over the documents pertaining to their immigration status and their
daughter's. The girl's family is originally from Sri Lanka and
emigrated in 2000 to seek medical help for Rifqa, who had lost sight in
her right eye when she fell and struck a toy airplane at home.Rifqa
Bary disappeared July 19 and police used phone and computer records to
track her to the Rev. Blake Lorenz, pastor of Orlando, Fla.-based
Global Revolution Church. Authorities said the teen had met him through
an online Facebook prayer group.

The Florida pastor who helped a
17-year old girl who fled from her home, fearing her Muslim parents
would kill her for converting to Christianity, said
that he is hopeful the runaway will be able to stay in Florida even
though a judge ruled she must return to Ohio.
"We expected Ohio would get jurisdiction... that's just the legal way it
is," Paster Blake Lorenz said. "But we are excited
there is still a possibility she could stay in Florida, if the legal
documents are not presented with her immigration. So you never
know...maybe they don't have them."
Before the girl gets sent back, Florida Judge Daniel Dawson said he needs
immigration papers proving her status in the U.S. and proof from the
state of Florida that she can continue her virtual schooling and
receive credit in Ohio.
Lorenz claims he and his wife have been operating under the belief that Bary's parents
may not be able to produce the required documents.Bary's family came from Sri Lanka, and Lorenz
said Rifqa did not think they would look for her for fear their
immigration status would be revealed. They eventually did report her as
missing, and Lorenz has since felt pressure from law enforcement and
some segments of the public."My impression is they are not here legally
anymore," Lorenz said. "Originally, they were, this is
all second hand. Rifqa told us they were not legal anymore... Meaning
they didn't update their papers and they were afraid they'd be
deported."
Another hearing is set for Oct. 23 for Bary's family to meet the required conditions for her return. If
the conditions are met sooner Bary may stay with a foster family in
Ohio until her dependency is decided in court.
Rifqa fled to Florida after her parents, Mohamed and Aysha Bary, learned that
she was baptized earlier this year without their knowledge. The parents
reported her missing to Columbus, Ohio, police on July 19. Weeks later,
using cell phone and computer records, police tracked the girl to
Lorenz, pastor of the Orlando-based Global Revolution Church.In an emotional six-minute interview in Florida, Bary, who met Lorenz through an online Facebook group, said
she expects to be killed if she is forced to return to Ohio.
"If I had stayed in Ohio, I wouldn't be alive," she said. "In 150
generations in family, no one has known Jesus. I am the first — imagine
the honor in killing me."
But a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation found no credible threats to Bary.
Contacted by the media, Rifqa'a father Mohamed Bary said he has no intentions of harming his daughter.
"I love my daughter and I want her to come back to the family," he said, declining further comment.
The Barys reportedly emigrated from Sri Lanka in 2000 to seek medical
treatment for Rifqa, who lost the sight in her right eye following an
accident at home.

Ohio teen runaway Fathima Rifqa Bary could be one step closer to leaving Central Florida foster care and returning to her home state.

A Department of Children and Families spokeswoman said today her agency
filed documentation that confirms Rifqa, 17, could continue her
education through a Florida virtual school even if she were sent back
to Ohio.

Last week, Orange County Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson said Rifqa's case
did not belong in Central Florida and that an Ohio court has proper
jurisdiction.

But Dawson had two concerns he wanted addressed before Rifqa was sent
back home -- the education component being one of them. At last week's
hearing, a DCF attorney assured Dawson Rifqa could continue her
schooling through the Internet program even if she left Florida, but
said someone would have to pay for it.

Dawson asked the agency to provide official documentation stating so.

"The Florida Department of Children and Families has filed the Court
requested educational documentation in the Bary case," DCF spokeswoman
Carrie Hoeppner stated. "This documentation confirms that the child
could continue on-line classes should she return to the State of Ohio."

The other documentation Dawson asked for last week relates to Rifqa's
immigration status. Dawson had already ordered Rifqa's parents to hand
over the teen's immigration documents, but Rifqa's guardian ad litem
said they had not provided everything.

Guardian ad litem Krista Bartholomew told Dawson it appeared as though Rifqa wasn't in the country legally.

Bartholomew, who is also a lawyer, raised the possibility that Rifqa
could be forced to return to her native Sri Lanka. As of last week's
hearing, Bartholomew said she didn't know Rifqa's exact residency
status.

At a hearing before Dawson Aug. 21, Barbra Joyner, then the attorney
for Rifqa's father, told the judge that Rifqa had entered the U.S. in
2000 on a visa but "right now, she's out of standards."

Contacted last week, Joyner would not comment.

Juvenile records are not public, so it is unclear if the immigration
documents have been provided to Dawson. Hoeppner said she did not have
confirmation if those items have been filed.

The parties have until noon Friday to file the appropriate documents with the court.

Rifqa ran away from her Columbus-area home in July and sought shelter
with husband and wife Orlando pastors. The teen told people she feared
her Muslim family would harm or kill her because she converted to
Christianity.

Law-enforcement in Ohio and Florida found no threats and Rifqa's parents have denied wrongdoing.

Officials in Ohio have said Rifqa would be placed in foster care there.

As a deadline looms for lawyers to provide her immigration paperwork to an Orange County judge, Fathima Rifqa Bary's own words indicate there may be troubles with her legal status in the United States.

Rifqa's guardian ad litem already raised the possibility that the 17-year-old Ohio teen runaway isn't in the country legally.

And now, the teen's own statements indicate that something may be amiss.

Rifqa told agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement during
an Aug. 24 interview that her family couldn't travel "because of our
legal status here."

"I think my parents are waiting for all that to be sorted out," Rifqa said.

Rifqa's transcribed interview with the state agents was released Thursday by FDLE.

Rifqa told the investigators how and why she ran away from Ohio and
ended up in Orlando. A local church member whom she met through a
Christian Facebook group bought her a bus ticket.

The teen told FDLE she couldn't travel by airplane.

"I mean, I can't fly, I don't have legal status to do so. You guys have seen that," she said.

During a proceeding in Orange County juvenile court last week, Rifqa's
guardian ad litem told Judge Daniel Dawson it appeared that Rifqa
wasn't in the country legally.

Krista Bartholomew, who is also a lawyer, raised the possibility that
Rifqa could be forced to return to her native Sri Lanka. As of last
week's hearing, Bartholomew said she didn't know Rifqa's exact
residency status.

Rifqa's case drew attention after she was reported missing by her
parents in Ohio and then surfaced in Orlando while living with
husband-and-wife pastors and their adult children. Rifqa claimed that
she had converted to Christianity and feared that her Muslim father
would harm or kill her because of her religious conversion.

Her father, Mohamed Bary, has denied those claims, and the FDLE
investigation did not uncover any evidence of abuse. Officials in Ohio
also found no such threats.

Rifqa has remained in foster care in Central Florida since early August.

Last week, Dawson said an Ohio court had proper jurisdiction in Rifqa's
case and agreed to send the teen back to her home state. Rifqa will
also be placed in foster care there.

But Dawson said before he would send Rifqa back to her home state, he
needed her immigration documentation and proof she could continue her
online education.

As of last week's hearing, Rifqa's parents and their respective
attorneys had not provided all the immigration documents as requested.

The Department of Children and Families said this week it provided the education paperwork.

It's unclear if the immigration documents have been provided to the
court. Juvenile court records are not public. Mohamed Bary's local
lawyer, who is supposed to provide the immigration documents, has not
returned a call seeking comment.

Rifqa's private lawyer, John Stemberger, also has not returned a call.

The parties have until noon today to file the documents with the court.

An Orlando judge
has ordered the Florida Department of Children and Families to transfer
custody of Ohio teen runaway Fathima Rifqa Bary to Ohio authorities.

Bary, 17, ran away from her Muslim parents to live with a Christian family in
Florida because she had converted to Christianity and feared that her
Muslim father would harm or kill her because of her religious
conversion.

The Florida Department of Children and Families said they received a court
order from Judge Daniel Dawson, of the 9th Judicial Circuit in Orlando,
Friday afternoon ordering the agency to relinquish its emergency
jurisdiction and arrange for Bary to be transported to the proper
authorities with Franklin County Children Services in Ohio.

"This order indicates that the Court has relinquished its emergency
jurisdiction and orders the Department to arrange the transportation of
the child to the proper authorities with Franklin County Children
Services in Ohio," DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner told the Orlando
Sentinel. "The Department will proceed with those arrangements. Please
understand that the details of the transfer will not be released, to
best ensure her safety."

Calls to Bary's attorney, John Stemberger, were not immediately returned.

Fathima Rifqa Bary's odyssey in Florida is over.

The Ohio teenage runaway who spent three months living in Central Florida is back in her home state.

The Florida Department of Children and Families confirmed around 12:45
p.m. today that Rifqa, 17, is now in custody of Franklin County
Children Services.

"Just before noon today, Rifqa Bary, accompanied by case manager, as
well as a representative with the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement, were met by officials with Franklin County Children
Services and local law enforcement in Columbus, Ohio," DCF spokeswoman
Carrie Hoeppner said.

Rifqa remains in protective custody in Ohio.

Also Tuesday, an Ohio judge has ordered officials in that state to
supervise telephone and Internet use by Fathima Rifqa Bary, the
teenager who ran away from her Ohio home to Florida because she was
afraid for her safety following a religious conversion to Christianity.

Franklin County Juvenile Magistrate Mary Goodrich put the restrictions
on Rifqa at the request of the county children services agency.

Rifqa on her foster family in Central Florida and is to be placed with a foster family in Ohio.

It was while in foster care in Florida, Rifqa participated in a conference call with a Christian group, startling DCF officials.

Jim Zorn, an agency attorney, told The Associated Press that Rifqa's
use of Facebook was one issue that led to the girl's situation.

Kort Gatterdam, an attorney representing the girl, opposed the request,
saying problems were caused by a conflict between the girl and her
parents, not the Internet.

In an interview with investigators with the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement, Rifqa said her father had arranged a marriage for her and
also threatened her because she left the Muslim faith to become a
Christian.

Officials in Florida and Ohio investigated Rifqa's claims, and found
that there were no threats to her. Her family has also denied making
any threats.

Her father, Mohamed Bary, has denied the girl's claims.

Rifqa lived with husband-and-wife pastors in Orlando -- whom she met
through a Facebook prayer group -- for more than two weeks before she
came to the attention of authorities.

An Ohio court is now handling Rifqa's case.

Fathima Rifqa Bary was present only in smiling photographs at a Downtown rally of her supporters
yesterday.
The 17-year-old Columbus runaway is in foster care until a Franklin County Juvenile Court judge
decides where she should live.
The former New Albany High School student says her father threatened to kill her for leaving
Islam for Christianity. She ran away from their Northeast Side home in July, fleeing to the Florida
home of married pastors whom she met on Facebook.
Mohamed Bary denies his daughter's accusations, and authorities in Ohio and Florida have found
no credible threat to her safety.But her supporters say the authorities are being ignorant at best and malicious at worst. They
say the girl, who goes by Rifqa, will be killed if she is returned to her family because Islamic
law mandates it and Muslim ideology is violent and dangerous.
About 120 people gathered in a small park across from the S. High Street courthouse for the
rally. A hearing had been scheduled for yesterday but was postponed until Dec. 22.
Speakers included Simon Deng, a Sudanese man who spoke of his enslavement by Muslims as a child,
and Nonie Darwish, director of Former Muslims United, based in Granada Hills, Calif.
Behind the speaker's lectern was a banner showing Muslim girls and women who have been maimed or
killed for various offenses against faith or family, said conservative blogger Pamela Geller, a
rally organizer. "We don't need another martyr," she said. "We have to win."
A general theme at the rally was that Islam is threatening the U.S. Constitution and American
freedoms.
"My concern is for the way that Islam is creeping into our society and trying to change it,"
said Don Berger of the East Side. "So I'm here in support of Rifqa and that she keeps her
freedom."
Alan Godlas, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of Georgia, said in a phone
interview that Islamic law does permit the execution of a person whose betrayal of the faith would
likely result in the deaths of Muslims, but Rifqa's conversion does not qualify.
"If you kill someone unjustly, you're a murderer" under Islamic law, Godlas said.
Several at the rally wore T-shirts that read: "Islam is of the devil."
Paige Bailey, who was at the rally, said she was troubled by that message. Rifqa wouldn't like
the focus to be on opposing Islam but rather on helping people come to Christianity, said Bailey,
who met Rifqa through Christian groups at Ohio State University.
"Her faith was very real, the most real I've ever seen," Bailey said. "She truly understands
God's love and grace for her, and she extends that to other people."

The runaway teen Muslim convert to Christianity who made national
headlines when she ran away should talk to her parents about religion
when they are reunited, according to a proposal filed in Ohio.

A government caseworker outlined a plan calling for Rifqa Bary, 17, and her parents to listen to each other's views on religion.

Bary needs to hear out her parents' explanation of their beliefs
when she goes home, according to the proposal filed in Franklin County
Juvenile Court. In turn, her parents must listen to Bary explain her
newfound Christianity.

The goal is for both sides to better understand why the teenager ran
away to Florida over the summer and stayed with a Christian family she
met online.



Bary has said she feared her father would harm or kill her for
converting from Islam. Her father has denied the claim. A Florida
Department of Law Enforcement investigation found no credible threats
to the girl.

The plan leaves open the possibility that the girl may never return home.

Bary was sent back to Ohio last month, where she is in the care of
the county children's services agency. Her phone and Internet usage is
being closely monitored to comply with a judge's ruling.

Bary, of suburban New Albany, disappeared July 19. Police used phone
and computer records to track her to the Rev. Blake Lorenz, pastor of
Orlando, Fla.-based Global Revolution Church.

Authorities said the teen had met him through a prayer group on Facebook.

Try as they might, Rifqa Bary's parents can't keep her from reading her first Christmas cards.

The Ohio girl, who ran away to Florida because she said she feared
her father would kill her for converting from Islam to Christianity —
only to be sent back to Ohio by a Florida judge — remains in the care
of a county children's services agency where she has been receiving
"quite a lot" of Christmas cards from well-wishers across the country,
according to one of her attorneys.

John Stemberger said an attorney for Bary's parents filed a motion
earlier this month seeking to ban the 17-year-old from receiving
outside messages, including Christmas cards. But Rifqa is receiving the
cards nonetheless, he said.

"In the end, she's getting the Christmas cards," Sternberger told
FoxNews.com. "They're just making sure there's no white powder or
anything in them."

Bary, who will turn 18 in August, is scheduled to appear Tuesday
morning in Ohio's Franklin County Juvenile Court. She may take the
stand and could learn if she'll be declared an independent, paving the
way for her to live as she chooses.



"If she's declared an independent, that'd be a victory," Stemberger
said. "The essence of this case is a girl who converted and is getting
increased hostility from the people who should be loving her the most.
It's the reason she ran."

Bary, of New Albany, Ohio, has said she feared her father would harm
or kill her for converting away from Islam, a claim her father, Mohamed
Bary, vigorously denies. A Florida Department of Law Enforcement
investigation found no credible threats to the girl.

Bary, who fled to Florida in July, was sent back to her home state
last month. Police used phone and Internet records to track her to the
Rev. Blake Lorenze, pastor of the Orlando, Fla.-based Global Revolution
Church and whom Bary met in a prayer group on Facebook, according to
authorities. Bary's phone and Internet usage are now being closely
monitored, per a judge's ruling.

Attempts to reach Omar Tarazi, an attorney for Bary's parents, were
unsuccessful early Tuesday. Speaking earlier to FoxNews.com, he said a
court-issued gag order prevented him from discussing the hearing.

Earlier this month, Franklin County Juvenile Magistrate Mary Goodrich ordered the state to supervise Bary's telephone and Internet use at the request of the county children's services agency.

The girl's parents supported the restrictions, saying through their
attorney they were concerned about her interacting with adults over the
Internet.

"As you know, there's a lot of danger and concern about that with children," Tarazi said.

Kort Gatterdam, an attorney representing the girl, opposed the
request, saying problems were caused by a conflict between the girl and
her parents, not the Internet.

"We're making some assumptions, without evidence in the record, that
she has done something improper talking to people on Facebook. There's
no evidence of that," Gatterdam told the judge. "If the goal here is
normalcy and reunification or whatever, this is not the way to go."

An Ohio judge will not force Rifqa Bary to work things out in group counseling with her parents.Bary,
17, made headlines in August when she fled from Ohio to Orlando. She
claimed her Muslim father threatened to kill her after she converted to
Christianity.The ruling was handed down on Tuesday, according to published reports.The
judge said Bary's issues with her parents would be better solved in
individual counseling sessions. The next hearing in the case is set for
Jan. 19.

A runaway teenage girl from Ohio who converted from Islam to
Christianity has reached a court settlement that allows her to remain
free of her Muslim parents.The agreement Tuesday says that
17-year-old Rifqa Bary will stay in a foster home under state custody
in Columbus until she turns 18 in August. After that, she'll be an
adult and free to live where she chooses.Bary's attorney read a
statement in Franklin County Juvenile Court, saying that the girl and
her parents love and respect each other and will try to resolve their
differences through counseling.Bary ran away to Florida last summer, saying she feared her father would harm or kill her for leaving Islam.Her father denied the claim, and a law enforcement investigation found no credible threats to the girl.

COLUMBUS, Ohio —
Muslim parents of an Ohio girl who ran away from home claiming she
feared harm for becoming a Christian have rejected a deal meant to
resolve the conflict with counseling.
Mohamed and Aysha Bary of New Albany in suburban Columbus withdrew their
consent in a court filing Thursday that alleges misrepresentation in
the plan approved Jan. 19.
The Barys and their daughter, 17-year-old Rifqa Bary,
had agreed she would stay in foster care and they would undergo
counseling instead of going to trial to determine where the girl should
live.
The Barys now allege that Franklin
County Children Services are permitting Rifqa to communicate with a
Florida pastor and his wife who helped her run away last summer.
A Florida law enforcement investigation conducted after the girl fled Ohio found no credible threats to the girl.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio minister accused of driving a teenage
runaway to a bus station last year has retained a lawyer as police say
they're investigating whether anyone broke the law in helping the
Christian convert leave home for Florida.
The minister, Brian Williams, is being represented by Michigan
attorney Keith Corbett, the lawyer said on Friday.

"We're representing Mr. Williams in the event he's contacted by
police authorities ... and asked to provide information," Corbett said.

The Columbus Police Department is investigating "any criminal
wrongdoing with anyone involved in getting her from one location to
another," Sgt. Rich Weiner said Friday.

The case has become a rallying point for Christian activists who say
Rifqa Bary, a 17-year-old who comes from a Muslim family, is a victim
of Muslim intolerance and Muslims who say the girl was exploited by
outsiders. Scores of demonstrators siding with the girl rallied outside
the Franklin County Court House in November.

Bary disappeared from her home in New Albany in suburban Columbus in
July and was discovered in Orlando, Fla., a few weeks later living with
a minister and his wife, whom she had met on Facebook.

The girl claimed she could be harmed or killed for converting to
Christianity, a charge her parents, immigrants from Sri Lanka, have
denied.

Bary was returned to Ohio after custody hearings in Florida and an
investigation by Florida police, who found no credible threats to the
girl.

Bary and her parents, Aysha and Mohamed Bary, initially agreed she
would stay in foster care and they would undergo counseling instead of
going to trial to determine where the girl should live.

That deal broke down when the Barys alleged that Franklin County
Children Services was permitting Rifqa to communicate with Florida
pastor Blake Lorenz and his wife.

Attorneys for both Rifqa Bary and her parents are under a gag order
and said Friday they could not comment. A message was left with
Williams on Facebook.

No charges have been filed. Williams' lawyer works for the Thomas
More Law Center, which frequently represents clients in religious
freedom cases.

An Oct. 15 petition filed in Franklin County Juvenile Court alleged
Williams drove the girl to the Columbus Greyhound station in late July.
There, Bary received a bus ticket purchased by certain "Christian
Associates" the teen met on Facebook, according to the petition filed
by Bary's father seeking her return from Florida.

The petition also said "conspiring adults" had planned locations
around the country for the girl to run away to but that Orlando was the
primary "Planned Sanctuary."

A former colleague of Lorenz's said in a December affidavit that
Lorenz ignored warnings that he was breaking the law when he housed
Bary for the two weeks before the state of Florida took her into
custody.

Brian Smith, a former church administrator, said Lorenz first told
him about Bary on July 19 after Lorenz's wife met the girl on Facebook.
The following day, Smith said, Lorenz told him that he and another man
had bought Bary a bus ticket under a false name, according to the
December affidavit.

Lorenz's attorney Mat Staver has denied Smith's allegations and says
Lorenz consulted with a dozen lawyers and a judge and contacted
Florida's Department of Children and Family Services three times while
the girl stayed with him.

A message was left Friday with Staver, who was traveling and could not be immediately reached.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A
teenage runaway who fled Ohio claiming she'd be harmed for converting
from Islam to Christianity says it's no longer possible for her to
reconcile with her Muslim parents.
Attorneys for 17-year-old Rifqa Bary
say in a juvenile court filing that efforts by Ohio and Florida courts
to reunify the family have failed. Bary also says in the Monday filing
that she fears being killed or harmed if she's sent back to her native
Sri Lanka.
A judge is expected to rule on Bary's latest request and several others by the teen and her parents at a hearing Tuesday.
Bary's father alleges a minister helped her flee to Florida by driving her to a Columbus bus station.
Police in Florida and Columbus found no evidence the girl faced harm.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An Ohio teenage
convert who ran away to Florida, allegedly with help from Christian
pastors, goes back to court in a lengthy custody dispute with her
family.Rifqa Bary and her parents were scheduled to appear
Tuesday before a juvenile court judge in Columbus who thought the case
had been resolved more than a month ago.A deal between the
17-year-old girl and her parents to resolve their conflict through
counseling fell apart shortly after it was struck in January.Bary
emigrated from Sri Lanka as a child with her family. She claims she
would be harmed or killed for converting to Christianity.Her parents deny the claim, and police in Columbus and Florida found no evidence she was in danger.

An Ohio judge urged a runaway who claimed her father wanted to kill
her for abandoning Islam to work out her disagreements with her parents.
At a hearing Tuesday in Franklin County Juvenile Court, Judge Elizabeth Gill said a courtroom was not the appropriate place for Fathima Rifqa Bary
and her parents to deal with their problems, The Columbus Dispatch
reported. She refused a request from Mohamed and Aysha Bary for a
trial, setting aside a Jan. 9 agreement to follow a case plan that
includes counseling.
The courtroom was crowded with supporters of the teenager.
Rifqa ran away from home last year, traveling to Florida where she
lived with two Christian pastors she first met online. She said her
life was at risk because of her conversion to Christianity.
A Florida court found no credible threat to her life and ordered her
to return to Ohio where she has been living with a foster family. She
turns 18 in August and would become a legal adult.
Omar Tanzi, the Barys' lawyer, said the couple wanted a court order
barring the Florida couple, Blake and Beverly Lorenz, from contact with
Rifqa. Gill refused.
The couple are under investigation in Florida for their role in Rifqa's departure from her parents' home.

A teenage girl who converted to Christianity and ran away from home
is being blocked by her Muslim parents from fighting the possibility of
deportation, her attorney told a judge Monday in an ongoing custody
dispute.



Rifqa Bary, 17, who fled home last year and stayed
with a Florida minister whom she met on Facebook, is an illegal
immigrant and does not want to be returned to her native Sri Lanka
because she fears being harmed or killed by Muslim extremists.
Her attorney, Angela Lloyd, asked a judge to sign
an order stating that reunification with her parents is not possible by
her 18th birthday in August.
The order would allow Bary, who is in foster care,
to apply for special immigration status without her parents' consent.
Omar Tarazi, an attorney for the parents, objected,
telling the judge that he had been unaware of this latest maneuver by
Bary's attorney to apply to an immigration court. He said the parents
previously filed an immigration application for the whole family.
Franklin County Juvenile Court Judge Elizabeth Gill
declined to issue the order without first holding a hearing next month.
She also declined to remove a gag order that prevents attorneys from
discussing the case publicly.
Bary and her parents, Mohamed and Aysha Bary, have
agreed to follow a counseling plan drawn up by a county child welfare
agency to try to resolve the family's conflict. It requires both sides
to work with individual counselors and to try to attend join counseling.
But a face-to-face meeting remains unlikely any
time soon.
Jim Zorn, a children's services attorney, told the
judge that Bary continues to believe that a reconciliation with her
parents is impossible. Bary's counselor has indicated that contact with
her parents would be premature, he said.
Bary has also complained that her parents have not
responded to an emotional letter sent to them through a counselor that
explains why their relationship broke down, Lloyd said.
The letter was more like a list of 20 questions
that felt like a backdoor interrogation prepared by attorneys, Tarazi
said. It included questions such as, "Why don't I have happy memories of
my childhood?" he said.
The parents want to respond but also want
assurances that Bary's attorneys are not interfering with the process,
Tarazi said.
Judge Gill ordered both attorneys to stay away from
the counselors.
Bary's case has drawn national attention,
especially among bloggers, with anti-Islam groups warning she could face
death and some Muslim groups saying she's being exploited by outsiders.
The girl ran away last July, saying she couldn't
stay with her parents because she feared for her life for converting to
Christianity. Authorities found no evidence that she faced harm in Ohio.
Police in Columbus continue to investigate whether
anyone broke the law by helping Bary run away.
Bary's father alleges a Columbus minister drove her
to a Greyhound station where she received a bus ticket and took a bus
to Orlando, Fla. There, she stayed with a minister and his wife for
about two weeks before the state of Florida took custody of her and
returned her to Ohio.

Fathima Rifqa Bary, the Muslim teenager from Columbus, Ohio, who
converted to Christianity and ran away to Orlando, is being treated for
uterine cancer.Rifqa, now 17, has already undergone two
operations and will have a third one on Thursday, according to a close
friend and her former Orlando lawyer."The only reason she wants
this to be known is she wants people to pray for her," said John
Stemberger, who represented Rifqa in her 2009 fight to stay in Florida.

Police recommended charges against six
of the people who helped a teenage Christian convert run away from her
Muslim parents in Ohio in 2009, an investigation by The Associated Press
has found.
But prosecutors in Ohio and Florida have declined to file charges
against anyone who helped 16-year-old, Sri Lankan-born Rifqa Bary leave
Columbus on a Greyhound bus and sheltered her for two weeks in Orlando
without notifying authorities, according to police reports obtained by
the AP through freedom of information requests.
The six include a Kansas City minister, a Columbus family friend, an
Orlando pastor and his wife and two members of the pastor's church.
Police say the six went too far, but prosecutors disagreed.
Bary's case resonated nationally at a time of tense Muslim-Christian
relations in the U.S. that included one pastor's threat to burn a copy
of the Quran. One of Rifqa's primary supporters is a blogger who a year
later led a campaign against the development of an Islamic center in New
York City near ground zero.
A lawyer for Rifqa, now an adult, says prosecutors made the right choice.
"They'd have a very difficult time with any of those charges, given
that Rifqa would say she was in fear for her life, and so they acted in
what they thought were in her best interests," said Kort Gatterdam, a
Columbus attorney who has represented her in juvenile custody hearings.
Christians who supported Rifqa rallied outside the county courthouse
during one hearing. Others said Rifqa was being manipulated by
conservative Christians to flame anti-Muslim sentiments and they
questioned her version of the events that led her to flee.
Rifqa, who lives out of state and isn't commenting, alleged she
feared harm or even death from her father for converting to
Christianity, a charge her parents adamantly denied — and which police
could not corroborate — according to the documents reviewed by the AP.
But documents did show evidence of deep family tension over her
conversion, including a threat by the girl's mother that they might send
her back to her native Sri Lanka.
One summer 2009 incident involving Rifqa's laptop, when her father
confronted her about her Christian comments on Facebook, underscored the
emotions of the case.
Mohamed Bary "picked up the laptop and he was about to beat me with
it," Rifqa said in an interview with Columbus police and prosecutors.
"And he said, 'Tell me the truth, I will kill you.'"
Mohamed Bary told Columbus and Florida police he was just trying to take the computer away.
"That's not my intention," he said, when asked if he planned to
strike his daughter. "I wanted the laptop away and took it away from
her."
Police who investigated Rifqa Bary's disappearance said it was
alarming that adults helped an underage girl run away without alerting
authorities.
"We're spending all sorts of time and effort and energy looking for a
child who may be in danger, and had we had that information up front,
we could have maybe gotten this thing resolved a lot quicker than we
did," said Columbus detective Sgt. John Hurst.
When Rifqa ran away, she ended up at the nearby house of a school
friend, where the friend's mother, Fanchon Nicole Hopson, let her stay
briefly, then later moved her to a relative's home overnight to keep
police from finding her, according to a Columbus police report obtained
by the AP and interviews with Hurst.
Hopson told police she knew the girl was leaving but didn't know where she was going.
The day after Hopson took in Rifqa, Brian Williams, a Kansas City,
Missouri, pastor who had previously baptized Bary in Columbus, drove 11
hours to Columbus to take Bary to the Greyhound bus station, according
to Hurst's investigation.
Hurst recommended Hopson and Williams be charged with interfering
with a child's custody and contributing to the delinquency of a minor,
both low-level felonies.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien declined to file charges in
either case, basing his decision on "a combination of things," including
difficulties re-interviewing Williams and Hopson.
Neither Williams nor Hopson returned phone and email messages and
written letters seeking comment. In one interview with police, Williams,
26, told police, "We were just trying to make sure she was safe."
Hopson, 41, told police that she told Bary to call authorities. She also accused police of trying to create a case against her.
"There is no case to be built and I am a little bit aggravated," she told investigators.
O'Brien also declined to file charges against Rifqa's father after
one of Rifqa's court-ordered counselors said he'd threatened the
counselor with comments made to another person. O'Brien said an
investigation couldn't confirm the allegation.
As Rifqa prepared to leave Columbus, Facebook friends in Florida swung into action to help, records show.
On July 20, 2009, Blake Lorenz, the pastor of the Global Revolution
Church in Orlando, and John Law, a church member, went to the Orlando
bus station where Law used a false name to purchase a $191 bus ticket
for Rifqa, paying cash and reserving it with the code name "Ezekiel,"
according to a charging affidavit prepared by Florida investigator David
Lee, as well as interviews Lee conducted with Lorenz and Law.
Rifqa had met Lorenz' wife, Beverly Lorenz, through Facebook, and had sent her a message three days earlier asking for help.
Law told Florida investigators he felt that if there was someone in
need and the issue was important to his pastor, "I'm going to help him."
Beverly Lorenz then gave the code word to Williams, who passed it on to Rifqa Bary, Lee's affidavit said.
After John Law and his wife, Wendy Law, picked Rifqa up at the
Greyhound station, they took her to a Denny's restaurant, then dropped
her off at the Lorenzes' house after midnight.
There, she found a bedroom that the Lorenzes had decorated for her, Rifqa told investigators.
Blake Lorenz said they acted out of fear the girl could be in danger.
"Bottom line is she's crying out for help, help me, save my life, I
gotta get out of this community," he told Florida investigators. "And so
we were like, well, we deal with helping people all the time in
ministry, we'll help her."
Over the next few days, Blake Lorenz tried to find attorneys who
would take the girl's case pro bono. He also called the Florida
Department of Children but didn't provide Rifqa's name or location.
Finally, on Aug. 5, Blake Lorenz reported Rifqa to the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children. Orlando police took her into custody
Aug. 7.
Orange and Osceola County State Attorney Lawson Lamar closed the case
in Florida earlier this year, saying he couldn't establish the elements
of the charges.
Reached for comment, John Law said he had things he could share about the case, but didn't comment further.
Shayan Elahi, an Orlando lawyer who has represented Rifqa's parents,
said Lamar abused his prosecutor's discretion by not pressing charges.
Rifqa, who turned 18 last year, remains estranged from her parents and two brothers.
A Florida lawyer who represented the Lorenzes said Lamar's office did
the right thing. Blake and Beverly Lorenz had a legitimate reason to
believe Rifqa Bary was in fear of her life because she'd converted to
Christianity, said Mat Staver, a lawyer and professor at Liberty
University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
http://www.wral.com/news/story/9298236/