In Hughes v. Hughes, a Tennessee Court of Appeals opinion published April 19, 2024, the divorced parties had a common parenting plan that prohibited communication except by text about the children only. Father violated this provision by sending Mother thousands of text messages over several years that begged, threatened or pleaded with Mother to reconcile, and then became antagonistic, accusatory and insulting toward Mother. In response, Mother repeatedly asked Father to stop, informed Father that their romantic relationship was over, and reiterated that they are only to have contact regarding their kids.
After reviewing the record, the trial court found beyond a reasonable doubt that the Father willfully failed to comply with the PPP on 133 occasions, and sentenced Father to 186 days in jail, to run consecutively.
On appeal, Father argued that the sentence was inappropriate. The Court of Appeals determined that the record supported the finding that Father’s behavior was egregious and disturbing, the text messages were harassing and abusive, and that Father would not stop without serious court intervention. The 186-day jail sentence was affirmed and Mother was awarded her attorney fees.
