The Wyoming Supreme Court on Thursday denied a porn actress’ request to terminate her ex-boyfriend’s rights to parent their daughter, after the actress was sent to prison for trying to have the man killed.
Katrina Danforth of Idaho gave birth to a girl 10 years ago, and soon after that her ex-boyfriend’s paternity was established, according to the high court’s Thursday order denying Danforth’s appeal.
To protect the child’s identity, Cowboy State Daily is omitting her father’s name.
Danforth was primarily raising the girl, although the girl’s father was able to visit her.
Until He Learned About The ‘Adult Entertainment’
But then the father learned that Danforth worked “in the adult entertainment industry” and had “dated over the Internet from home while (her daughter) was with her,” according to the court order.
So he filed for custody modification. And in 2018, when the girl was 4, the court gave the father temporary sole legal custody over the girl, subject to Danforth’s visitation.
Several months later, the father learned that Danforth had posted a video of their little girl wearing only underwear and high heels to Danforth’s adult entertainment Facebook page, says the order.
The Idaho court suspended Danforth’s visitation rights.
Murder For Hire
Angered, Danforth hired a hitman to kill her child’s father, but what she didn’t know was that the hitman was an undercover police officer.
Danforth was indicted for a murder-for-hire felony in an Idaho federal court, pleaded guilty in 2020 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Sometime later, the father, his wife and their other children moved to Wyoming, the order says.
The father also filed a petition to terminate Danforth’s parental rights over the girl.
Danforth counter filed, asking the court to terminate the father’s rights over the girl instead, and to appoint a guardian ad litem, or a watchdog to represent the girl’s interests in court.
The Sheridan District Court judge terminated Danforth’s parental rights. The judge’s order acknowledged Danforth’s request for a guardian ad litem, saying state law generally requires that in termination cases. But judges can make specific findings that such an appointment is not necessary.
In this case, the father and the girl’s interests were aligned so the father could represent his daughter in court, the judge decided. There was no need to appoint a watchdog, the order relates from the district court judge’s decision.
Representing herself in court filings, Danforth appealed to the Wyoming Supreme Court, still asking for a decree terminating the father’s parental rights over the girl.
The high court said it can’t address the issue because it’s still “pending” at the lower court level. The district court did not address Danforth’s request to terminate the father’s parental rights, which means there’s no final resolution on it that can be appealed for scrutiny by a higher court.
“We must dismiss for lack of jurisdiction,” says the order.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
