Judge awards Vegas man custody of his brother who he believes may also be his son
A Las Vegas man’s search for the truth about his family has returned inconclusive results.
Logan Gifford, 26, believes his younger brother, 15, could be his son after claiming his mother Doreene Gifford began sexually assaulting him when he was 10.
Doreene Gifford, was sentenced to eight to 20 years in jail after making an Alford plea, essentially a plea of no contest, on lesser charges, including attempted sex assault, 8 News Now reports. She has also registered as a sex offender, while also maintaining her innocence. Logan was 17 at the time.
Earlier this year, Logan Glifford filed a paternity case asking for a judge to order an advanced DNA test to determine who the teenager’s father is, the outlet reports.
That test was inconclusive, however. Logan Glifford said he and his father, Theodore, could both be the teenager’s biological father, after their DNA both matched 99.9% to the sibling.
At a Thursday hearing, family court Judge Vincent Ochoa said that the test results were unsurprising. “I think we should have known that was going to come out that way from the very beginning,” Ochoa said, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The judge recommended further testing to ascertain who the teenager’s father was. The judge also awarded Logan Glifford temporary custody of his brother. A prior temporary guardianship would have expired Thursday, his Attorney Timothy Treffinger, told the Review-Journal.
Speaking to the Review-Journal, Logan Gifford said that he would be praying over the issue, but pursuing further testing in order to get “genetic clarity” for his brother.
“He’s aware of what’s going on and he understands why we’re trying to get to the truth for him,” he said. “Because this wasn’t about me. This was about trying to get genetic answers for him.”
A GoFundMe page set up by Gifford to help him win custody and “protect” his brother, who he currently lives with along with his wife and stepdaughter, has raised almost $2,000.
In the page description, Gifford describes the situation as “a nightmare I never chose” and calls the idea of his brother being his son a “haunting possibility.”
“The court process is tough, and with his cognitive struggles and our complicated family history, I need help to secure his future and give him the life he deserves,” Gifford wrote.
He added that he was “also speaking out for male survivors everywhere.”
“Growing up, I faced shame, disbelief, and a system that didn’t see me—social services missed the signs and left me unprotected. Too many men suffer in silence, and I’m determined to change that,” he said.
Despite the previous inconclusiveness, experts have said it is likely that further testing will provide answers for the Giffords.
Arthur Beaudet, a past president of the American Society of Human Genetics, said such circumstances would require a higher level of investigation.
“This is a job not for the average lab that does paternity testing and disputes between individuals all the time,” he told the Review-Journal. “This is a job for a top-notch expert in this area.”
