by Jill Huber
NJJN Bureau Chief/Monmouth

February 17, 2009

It was only for a brief interval, but David Goldman finally was reunited with the eight-year-old son he hadn’t seen in more than four years.

On Feb. 9, the Tinton Falls father arrived in Rio de Janeiro and embraced Sean, who has been living in Brazil since June 16, 2004. That was the day that Goldman’s wife, Bruna, took Sean, then four, to her native Brazil for what was to be a two-week vacation. As David Goldman bade them farewell at Newark Liberty International Airport, he never suspected that a bitter child custody battle was about to begin.

When she arrived in her home country, Bruna called Goldman at their Tinton Falls home and said she planned to remain in Brazil with their son. Goldman then began a nightmarish voyage through a legal maze in the United States and Brazil in an effort to bring Sean home.

As the custody proceedings dragged on, Bruna obtained a Brazilian divorce from Goldman and married a Brazilian attorney. She became pregnant by her new husband, but died in childbirth in 2008. Goldman’s legal advisers maintain that Bruna’s wealthy and influential family has continued to prevent him from seeing his son, despite the death of the boy’s mother.

But whenever Goldman is successful in bringing Sean home, the boy will receive a warm welcome from the teachers and students at the Tinton Falls Cooperative Nursery School, where he was enrolled before he was taken to Brazil.

“Sean was in our school for two years, and everyone here loved that little boy,” said Bobbie LaPlaca of Red Bank, director of the nondenominational school that is sponsored by Monmouth Reform Temple and housed in the temple building on Hance Avenue. (The Goldmans are not MRT members.)

“Sean was always smiling and happy, and there was an amazing bond between him and his father — they had a great father-son relationship,” LaPlaca told NJ Jewish News. “Every staff member saw this close relationship. It was a beautiful thing to watch.”

Goldman was a warm and nurturing parent whose son was a high priority in his life, she said.

“If David had to work in the evening, he would come to the school during the day and read to Sean,” LaPlaca said. “He would tell Sean, ‘I won’t be able to read you a story at bedtime tonight, but I’m here and I’ll tell you a story now instead.’”

The other children often would gather around while Goldman read to his son.

“He was a warm and loving dad, and he was a friend to all the children at the school,” LaPlaca said. “He helped with Valentine’s Day celebrations and Halloween parties, and other school events for the children. He was a familiar and happy presence at the school.”

But Goldman’s happiness faded after Sean was taken to Brazil, and he often commiserated with his son’s nursery school teachers.

“He would come and talk with us; he was distraught and needed to vent,” said LaPlaca. “He kept wondering what happened, what went wrong. David was in a comfort zone when he was here. But no matter how upset he was, his love for Sean always overcame his own pain.

“Sean was scheduled to return to our school for a third year,” LaPlaca added. “But it never happened.”

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