K.L.T. v. Thornton

This is an action for termination of parental rights and adoption filed by Deborah Wilkinson (mother) and Todd Wilkinson (stepfather). The trial court entered a judgment which terminated the parental rights of Gregory Thornton (father) to K.L.T. and allowed her adoption by stepfather. Father appeals. We reverse and remand.

Father and mother married in 1994, and KL.T. was born of this union in 1995. At the time of their divorce in April of 2004, father was incarcerated in a federal penitentiary in Oklahoma; thus, mother was granted sole legal and sole physical custody of K.L.T. Mother and…