'I am terrified of my father'
Moceanu gets protective order against her dad, Dumitru
Posted: Tuesday December 01, 1998 10:50 AM
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Moceanu (right) said her father (left) was investigated for allegedly attempting to hire someone to kill her coach AP |
HOUSTON (AP) -- A month after winning legal independence from her parents, gymnast Dominique Moceanu contends her father has done nothing to allow her to live the life of an adult.
The 17-year-old Olympic gold medalist obtained a protective order against Dumitru Moceanu on Monday, accusing him of stalking her and threatening to harm her friends.
"I am terrified of my father," Miss Moceanu stated in a court affidavit. "I believe that all of my father's actions are intended to result in physical harm, bodily injury or assault to me or my friends."
In the affidavit, Moceanu states that a Houston police sergeant informed her several weeks ago that her father was being investigated for attempting to hire someone to kill her coach and a male friend, Brian Huggins.
Katherine Scardino, an attorney for Dumitru Moceanu, confirmed Houston police investigated her client, but said he was not arrested and no charges were filed. There was no answer at Moceanu's home, and a message left at his gym was not returned.
"We've got parents here who all of a sudden find themselves accused of doing all these horrible things," Scardino said. "The very idea that this guy would hire someone else to kill someone is ridiculous."
Houston police spokesman Robert Hurst said the homicide division conducted an investigation into threats made against "certain parties" involved in Moceanu's earlier efforts to become a legal adult.
However, Hurst would not disclose who was under investigation or who was threatened, saying, "The investigation was inconclusive and no charges and no arrests were made. The case has been closed."
The protective order bars Dumitru Moceanu from communicating with his daughter except through her attorney, Ellen Yarrell. A violation could lead to his arrest.
A hearing has been set for Dec. 9 to determine whether the order will be made permanent.
Frustrated over unanswered questions about her earnings and upset after her father threatened to have her Romanian coach deported, Moceanu ran away from home last month and sued her parents to be certified as an adult.
She also obtained a restraining order against her mother and father, whom she accused of squandering her earnings on risky investments and a $4 million gym bearing her name.
Her parents initially opposed the lawsuit and insisted their daughter's coach, Luminita Miscenco, and 32-year-old Huggins improperly influenced her.
But on October 28, after her parents agreed to drop their resistance to her lawsuit, Moceanu was declared a legal adult and a judge lifted the restraining order against her parents. At the hearing, Dumitru Moceanu broke into tears and had to be asked three times if he agreed with the settlement before finally muttering, "Yes."
Since then, Moceanu alleges in her affidavit, her father has hired a private investigator to "follow me everywhere."
"He [the investigator] has pictures of my friends and me at numerous locations. He has documented my every move for my father down to where I shop and what I wear each day," she said.
Moceanu also said that her father, on several occasions, waited outside of her school and attempted to follow her.
"So far, I have been able to evade him, but each attempt makes me more and more fearful for my safety," she said.
Yarrell accused Dumitru Moceanu of tapping his daughter's phone and fax machine, and "essentially stalking her."
"She's very scared. He's kind of gone off the deep end," Yarrell said, adding that Moceanu has gone into hiding.
Scardino admitted Dumitru Moceanu followed his daughter at times in the past, but said his actions were out of concern for her.
"She is still a 17-year-old daughter, whether she is legally an adult or not. They see that and, no, they don't like that," she said. "It's hard for a parent to just let go. He's looking at a little girl."
Scardino added, "If she thinks these are parents who would actually harm her, she's got a problem."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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