Posted: 01/20/2010 at 3:30pm | IP Logged

Rifqa Bary can live where she wants once she turns 18 in August.

Runaway Teen Convert and Parents End Dispute

by Meredith Heagney, The Columbus Dispatch

COLUMBUS, OH - The long legal dispute over runaway teen convert Fathima Rifqa Bary apparently ended in Franklin County Juvenile Court late this afternoon when the girl and her parents agreed that she'll stay in the custody of Children Services and the family will try to resolve their issues with counseling.

That leaves two options for Rifqa, who is in foster care: She could eventually reconcile with her parents and go home or stay in foster care until her 18th birthday on August 10th.

Rifqa admitted she was unruly when she fled her parents' home last July to live with a Christian pastor and his family in Florida. She said at the time that her father, Mohamed, had threatened to kill her for abandoning the family's Muslim faith, although authorities say they never found credible evidence that that was true.

The next hearing, besides a minor hearing regarding a gag order on Monday, is set for her birthday.

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