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Show ASKS FOB . CUSTODY OFOiL ' FATHER, OLIVER BELKNAP, FILES PETITION IN JUVENILE COURT. Would Take Her From Her Mother, Mrs. Prestin, Claiming Influence Is Demoralizing. S A petition was filed yesterday In the, Juveniie court of this, city by Oliver Belknap, fto father of little Dora Belknap, Bel-knap, who has been lying ill at the Ogden Og-den cltv hospital for the past. veek, requesting that he be given the custody cus-tody of the girl. siaMng that the influences influ-ences which tho little one was subjected sub-jected to when in charge of her mother In this city were highly demoralizing. Belknap married tire child' mother, Mrs. Kmilv D. Belknap-Prestln at Salt Lake City In and was di vorced in 1S0S. The mother was given the custody of the child by the judge granting the divorce, and it was stated lit the time that Belknap was an unfit guardian for the baby. The woman married John Joseph since, and Inter entered 'Into a mar riage contract with Herbert Prestln, the fugitive who figured in the recent Clark murder. The fatber alleges that since the woman's marriage with Prestln the daughter has been subjected to corrupt cor-rupt surroundings. The mother a short time ago claimed that the child had been assaulted and that she was unable to properly care for her. The t girl was taken to the hospital and given treatment for some Illness which has not been made public. Belknap is a homesteader from Bryan, Ida., where ho runs a small truck and stock farm. He was tho j first husband ft Mrs. Prestln. The little girl was to be released from" tho hospital yesterday In custody cus-tody of her mother, but the Juvenile court stopped the release order when j the father's petition was filed, ordering that Dora be held until a decision in I tho matter is reached by the court. j The mother of the girl will put up a i stout defense, it is announced. Sho has secured the aid of several prominent prom-inent society women of this city, who have engaged the services of two local attorneys and are arranging for the assistance of two more from Salt Lake. The woman declares that her former husband is financially unable to caro for the daughter; that he is living in u small tworoome'd boos in Idaho ,with eight other people, and . that he only wishes to secure the custody of the" ghl in order to have her help'hlm in the gathering of his berry crop on his ranch. The daughter, "a twelve-year-old miss, protests strongly against being compelled to livo with her father, w'jo, her mother states, has seen her but once since her birth and has contributed but a trivial amount lo her support. The. petition will bo heard Tuesday next iu the juvenile court. |
