“The mothers hands are not exactly clean here either.”
Possibly, but she did divorce him.
And, the societal pressure to ‘have a relationship’ with the birth father is not to be underestimated.
Oh, let’s not forget that this was published in the San Fransicko paper, so given the ‘community matrix’ - what can one say?
The story states "they had been separated". We don't know who left who, or if there is a divorce. But. If it was her who divorced him, it would implicate her all the more since she would have had some grounds to sue for divorce. Possibly his drug driven debauchery.
What would fill in some blanks here is knowing what sort of ongoing contact, if any, existed between the mother and father. We can assume there was little to zero contact with the daughter previously or there would be no need “to build a relationship”.
I'm betting mom knew about dads sexual habits and drug use. She may not have known just how twisted he was, but that's no excuse. She should have vetted this guy before green lighting visitation.