Is Charlie Sheen the Victim of Parental Alienation?

An article about Charlie Sheen’s divorce, which I’ll follow with a few comments:

End daughters’ overnights with Sheen, ex asks

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — Denise Richards has asked a court to stop allowing ex-husband Charlie Sheen to have overnight stays with their two young daughters.

Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards in 2003. The couple divorced last year.

In a filing Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Richards said the children have resisted spending the night at Sheen’s home and “often returned sad and upset,” according to court papers obtained by syndicated TV show “Access Hollywood.”

The 36-year-old actress also requested that Sam, 3, and Lola, 2, undergo therapy.

Richards said she’s concerned that Sheen engages in “inappropriate behavior” on the Internet and doesn’t understand how that affects “the child-rearing of two young daughters.”

“Virtually all of these allegations were previously raised and were denied by Mr. Sheen,” the actor’s attorney, Lance Spiegel, said in a statement.

Sheen, 44, has complained that Richards is interfering with his relationship with their daughters since the couple’s bitter divorce last year.

He filed a court request last month asking that he be allowed to choose the nannies who accompany Sam and Lola while they are at his home. The court previously had given the choice to Richards.

“Clearly the mother of my children has no interest in responsible co-parenting when it comes to my relationship with our girls,” Sheen said in a statement. “She behaves as though she owns our children. She does not.” 

A few comments:

1) In some ways this seems like a typical Parental Alienation case–there’s a divorce, and mom seeks to minimize and control the relationship between the father and his children. That Richards says the children have resisted spending the night at Sheen’s home and “often returned sad and upset” is a common alienator behavior called the “Independent Thinker.” To some degree Richards is putting forth the ludicrous pretense that it’s the kids, not her, who have a problem with Sheen–two very little “independent thinkers,” ages two and three. I doubt the kids have any problem with their father outside of what Richards manufactures and tries to make them think or feel.

2) To be fair, Sheen had problems when he was younger, including substance abuse and cavorting with prostitutes. He hasn’t been a choir boy.

3) The accusation ”improper activity on the internet” means watching porn, I guess. Unless Sheen is sitting there watching it with his kids, it’s his business, and no reflection on his parenting. Also, given some of the roles Richards has played, she’s nobody to be pushing Victorian values. For some examples, click here and here (warning: adult content).

The American Coalition for Fathers and Children The American Coalition for Fathers and Children is dedicated to creating a family law system which promotes equal rights for all parties affected by divorce. Contact the ACFC at 1-800-978-3237 or visit them on the web at www.acfc.org.