Judge bans accused dad from seeing his son
Saying he felt deceived, a frustrated Fulton County judge on Thursday banned a father accused of trying to smother his son from having any contact with the 3-year-old child.
"I don't want him around the child," Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall told a lawyer for Michael Callaway. "I'm not going to sit here in limbo wondering what's going on with this child."
Callaway, 31, faces a first-degree child cruelty charge on allegations he tried to smother his then three-month-old son at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital in March 2007.
After being indicted, Callaway was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. Schwall allowed him to remain free on bond to receive outpatient psychiatric treatment at a clinic in Blue Ridge, provided he have no contact with his son.
But in July, in a divorce case filed by the child's mother, a north Georgia judge in Union County allowed Callaway visitation rights to be with his son two hours a week. Visits must be supervised by Callaway's parents, Mike and Peggy Callaway in Blairsville.
Schwall said such an arrangement was unacceptable to him, and he noted that Callaway was living with a relative down the street from his parents.
About the Author
Bill Rankin has been an AJC reporter for more than 30 years. His father, Jim Rankin, worked as an editor for the newspaper for 26 years, retiring in 1986. Bill has primarily covered the state’s court system, doing all he can do to keep the scales of justice on an even keel. Since 2015, he has been the host of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast.
