My step daughter had runaway and I found her well when I found her she said she wanted to live with me her step dad which is me and her real mother which we live in a 2 bedroom only 7 minutes away from where she lives now well the thing is I got arrested for interferring with child custody and when I went to court the prosecutor told my public defender that I had to stay away from the step daughter for a year well I pleaded not guilty well the thing is when I went back to court the prosecutor supplied no evidence of that she is labeled as mentally handicapped and that they have custody of her till she is 21 also I was told by my public defender that the grandparents have full custody till she is 21 years of age she turned 18 in July 2009 I think the grandparents are lying but I do know she is in slow learning classes like mentally handicapped classes my and her mother have been working with her a lot on math and spelling and reading a lot because the grandparents do nothing to help her get a great education at home to like working with her at home. They dropped it down to a disorderly conduct and I got a small fine and 1 year probation. She does want to live with us real bad and told her grandparents that but said she can't till she at least graduates 2011 in may she does not want to wait that long. The grandmother absolutely hates me but the grandfather likes me a lot and understands me and his daughter and the granddaughter to me I think they get disability from the granddaughter to and don't report it as income and I was wondering what can I do and how can I do something about it? Me and the mother are really mad because she can think and is not retarded at all she is slow but not stupid and it makes us very mad. We are planning on moving to the city she lives in so she can still graduate from the same school she is attending now and want to get a house so maybe her brother can move in with us to if he still wants to. To me she is mildly hanicapped but not fully she looks normal as me and you and talks plainly like me and you. The grandparents said she doesn't know how to live on her own or anything I told them it is because the schools and them is why she is the way she is today so me and my old lady are going to work with her a lot here and always.

Why does the grandparents have custody, what happened in the past for the mother to lose her rights.

Assuming that during the custody change, the child's mental state became issue.

So the mother has to hire an attorney and file in court for a change of custody, and to restore her rights for what ever reason it was lost

Boy did you screw up. When your step daughter showed up you should have brought her back to the custodial grandparents immediately. The mother should have then filed in court for a change in custody.

If course the reason she lost custody in the first place might have a bearing on her regaining custody. But not, since you interfered with custody, it will be harder for you to be involved.

Get a Family law attorney and explain the whole situation and get their advice.

The mother was married to a drug addict and took it over the kids and the mother so they lost their apt. and the mother was basically forced to give the grandmother custody and then I met the mother 3 months after the custody change over and kept telling the mother to try to get the kids back but her mother said that we had to be married and keep our place at least for 6 months before she would even allow the kids to go back to the mother and live with her and me. The daughter is always talking about moving out and living with us and when I say it's time to go back to your house the daughter corrects me and says you mean the house our my mama's and papa's house. Everybody in my girlfriends family does not care for me even though I have worked and kept a place for 9 years. Sometimes I feel like I don't do enough to satisfy the grandparents at all. It is really sad that the kids are put through this which thank god it's not my fault but I feel like it is because me and my girlfriend have not tried to get custody because we are not loaded with money and the grandparents know it so they sit back and laught basically. I need to know where to start which I was told by my public defender that I needed to get a family law attorney and tell them everything. Well I know I should have took her back to thegrandparents but I didn't know that even though she is 18 and at the time of the incident she was 18 to they consider her a mentally handicapped child and it is strictly bull excuse my language thanks!

This is the first time I ever been in trouble and I am 38 and live in Ohio.

Yes you need to get a Family law attorney and let your attorney advise you.