Charlie Sheen has given up his twin sons who turn two this month to Brooke Mueller, his estranged wife, after Brooke served him with a temporary restraining order. The children were removed by police from Sheen's Los Angeles mansion. Sheen claims he was blindsided by the police when they removed his sons, Bob and Max. According to Brooke, she is concerned that Charlie is presently insane, and fears an attack from him, as well as being in great fear of the safety of the children when in his care. Forbidden per legal papers, Charlie is not to come within 100 yards of Mueller or the children. While holidaying in the Bahamas last week, Charlie allegedly threatened Brooke with violence, an allegation which Sheen denies.
The whole sad event has been captured on video and Charlie appeared sober and composed when his children were taken away. This is a very sad and unusual case. Taking children away from a parent is an extreme measure that should be used only as a last resort because of the damage it can do to kids. Charlie handled it well. It's clear from the video that he loves his kids and they love him.
The court will hold a hearing on the allegations Brooke has made against Charlie to determine if they are true and, if so, what the proper custody orders should be. Just because the children were taken from him recently does not mean that the court will strip him of his custody rights forever.
It's rare to see a case where there is one good parent and one bad parent. Custody decisions aren't usually made based on a parent's lifestyle choices or who the parent is currently dating. Drug or alcohol abuse is not enough unless it can be shown that the parent is endangering the child. Charlie appeared sober and composed when his children were taken away. He didn't display any anger and make it as comfortable as possible for the kids, reassuring them that nothing was wrong. That shows that he had the best interests of his kids at heart at that moment. I question whether any of us would have handled that situation any better.