Teen Mom’s Amber Portwood, 20, has been released from jail after being put on a 24 hour hold for three felony counts of domestic violence and one misdemeanor for child neglect. Many of us were relieved when we heard that Amber had been given a “no contact” order for her daughter Leah, 2, who had previously been placed under state supervision but was returned to Amber’s custody after she moved and actually bought a bed for the toddler. Now that Amber is out, having posted 10% of her $5,000 bail and entered a “not guilty” plea, her lawyer assures us that Leah will soon be back in Amber’s care. I hope this guy is wrong, but sadly it will probably take a lot more than neglectful parenting and some beat-downs on camera for Amber to lose custody:
Teen Mom star Amber Portwood’s life is about to get a whole lot better.
The reality TV star, who was released from jail Tuesday after spending 24 hours behind bars on charges of battery for fighting with her ex-fiancé Gary Shirley, will soon be reunited with her 2-year-old daughter, Leah, according to her lawyer.
“It’s my understanding that Leah will be placed back with her,” attorney Robert Schembs tells PEOPLE.
On Monday Portwood, 20, was charged with three felonies, including two counts of domestic battery and one count of neglect of a dependent, as well as one misdemeanor charge of domestic battery. She was booked Monday afternoon and kept overnight at the Madison County jail in Anderson, Ind.
She is no longer allowed to have contact with Shirley, according to Schembs. Still, he adds, “To my knowledge, they’re on good terms.”
“I’m really proud of her,” Schembs says, adding that he saw the reality TV star Monday night in jail. “She was staying strong. Her outlook was positive. She had shock, of course, but having said that, she was in good spirits. She’s really trying.”
[From People]
Radar Online has the details from court papers filed by prosecutors. They state that Amber told them “the incidents were out of anger and were not staged for the reality show” and that she did “not remember everything due to some medical issues in which she is under a Dr.’s care for currently.” That story also reveals that the judge chose not to enforce the no contact order between Amber and Leah, which probably explains why her lawyer is so positive that Amber will get custody again. The judge did enforce the no contact order between Amber and Leah’s dad, Gary Shirley, however.
There’s a follow up article on Radar claiming that Amber wanted to break up with her boyfriend and reconcile with Gary but was prevented from seeing him by that no contact order. Meanwhile TMZ has a video of Gary on the phone with Amber while she cries and yells at him. He’s obviously mocking her to his friend taping him, and is seen laughing at her while he makes empty promises and apologizes. What a mess these kids are.
Photos are from 12/10/10 of Amber with her boyfriend Clint and daughter Leah. Credit: Fame Pictures
They don’t terminate parental rights before giving the parent a chance to learn how to act and change for the better. Unless there was some particularly heinous abuse. Parents have a constitutional right to parent how they want, and it can be quite burdensome to show a parent is “unfit”. It’s really quite sad. Ultimately, the best interests of the child is supposed to be the most important issue, but I think courts do a lot of things that aren’t good for kids (for instance, any a$$hole that disappears from his or her kid’s life has every right to pop back into the kid’s life, sometimes after years, and ask for visitation, which is usually granted! And that cycle repeats. How is that in a kid’s best interests?)
Why is this nutty slut even on TV??
Ohhh…she is going to use the excuse of blacking out to get out of it, somehow. Bullshit. That child needs to be out of her way.
gary is such a passive-aggressive prick. always has been.
amber reminds me of britney…just zoned out of her mind on meds most of the time with short bouts of lucidity.
leah needs some stability. she’s the real victim here. bless her little heart.
Stuff like this breaks my heart/makes me sick. There are so many couples who can’t have kids and would do anything to open their home to a kid like this- but this stupid broad gets chance after chance to ruin that child. It’s shameful.
Gary and his friend are a pair of assholes. I mean, Amber is also awful, but at least she’s got the excuse of having some serious mental problems. For those two to be antagonizing her so blatantly, it’s just disgusting. If it’s the same guy who was on the show once doing basically the same thing, he needs to mind his own damn business. Gary needs to grow up and move on.
Also: that kid’s about to electrocute herself in that last picture…
That child of theirs needs to be taken away from them and adopted by some decent people who could give her a better life than the one she faces at the hands of the two biggest white trash parents ever.
“She is no longer allowed to have contact with Shirley, according to Schembs. Still, he adds, “To my knowledge, they’re on good terms.” ”
yeah right, he’s Leah’s father, that’s impossible.
Disgusting. The whole damn lot. The only one I feel bad for is little Leah. *raises hand* Give her to me, I’ll take her! Or give her to ANYONE who will love her more than these two love themselves! That poor sweet baby…
@ guesty – ITA; I believe that’s a direct quote from one of my previous posts on this mess. (Not taking credit, just pointing out that we’re sympatico re: Gary.)
YES. Adoption is this poor little girl’s only hope. They need to give her up.
At first, I thought that header pic was Jennifer Aniston.
Co-sign w/ devilgirl & Whatever. 100%.
@audrey i think you’ve taken to many cold pills this morning!
poor leah. honestly, gray is an ass, he’s antagonistic and a douche but amber shouldn’t be hitting him. especially not in front of leah. i hop amber get the serious help she needs to recover, because a bad of a mom as she is, i always hope people can change and gt better.
Gary, grow up, take responsibility for your actions and stop egging amber on. it’s only going to hut leah in the long run.
The last photo is such a mess. Amber’s face is burnt orange but her hands…errr..fists are white. The baby is toying with the electrical socket, even though there are four adults right there. Maybe the MTV crew was hoping for a ratings-boosting electrocution.
I love how she’s preening before the camera guys while her daughter is playing with the electrical outlet. Also, I know it’s redundant but for the love of orange what is with the color of her face? She should do a note to self and keep her 5 shades lighter hands away from her Cheeto toned mug.
Coolwhiplite..greats minds and all that lol
what the hell is she on, why are her pupils so dialated, it is weird.
I believe Amber should be waterboarded daily.
@ obvious –
I actually AM on cold pills today 🙂
Hmm… she got rid of that ugly blond-esque hair.
Oh LAWD!
That child has no chance. Gary needs help too. They are both crazy
I vote for involuntary sterilization.
Parents like Amber really make me question my career choice. Though I’ve been assured that the likes of Amber rarely can be dicked to go to a parent-teacher conference. . . its of little comfort.
You are a parent now, little girl. Someone else depends on you. Get your shit straight and fly right.
I am at a loss as to why this program is even on the air. Why dignify stupidity?
I know she’s got way more pressing issues besides this, but bitch needs to lay off the self tanner.
This is so sad. I’m not even going to get into the issue brought up re: state intervention in childrearing etc., because it’s too complex for a comments thread but my heart breaks for that little girl. It’s so awful tpo look at her now as a very small child and just know in your heart that she is 99.999% likely to grow up to be an extremely damaged human being. And none of it is her fault.
Sometimes I AM tempted to say something extreme like “these kids should be taken away, period, the end, and adopted out and never given back”. I mean, who’s going to have better life chances – Leah, or Carly (the baby Caitlynn and Tyler gave up for adoption)?
Gary has a new girlfriend,so I hope she doesn’t take her anger out on the baby now if he isn’t around.
What is with this chick’s pumpkin face. It’s very odd. Does she need a liver?
this is the daughter that Jen Aniston could have had. they look so alike! am i the only one who sees it?
Is anyone else disturbed that the kid is just chillin with her fingers near the electrical socket with no one watching her?