Did you know Carole Crist has two children by her ex-husband, Blue Star Jets CEO Todd Rome? Probably not. How would you? Neither she nor her husband Charlie are ever seen with them.
And that's the problem now. Carole apparently has "mommy issues" -- as in "I don't want to be one."
As in, "I'm a deadbeat mom."
All of a sudden, people are beginning to notice there are people in her life conspicuous by their absence.
According to astory out Friday morning in the Broward/Palm Beach New Times, a New York county judge has awarded temporary full custody of Carole Crist's teenage daughters to Rome, who alleges Florida's former first lady has abandoned and ignored her kids for more than two years.
The judgment apparently overturned the parents' joint custody, and follows two years in which Carole Crist failed to return phone calls, text messages, letters, or communication of any kind with her children.
Rome's attorney Mark Heller told the New Times, "It's shocking and very disturbing because these two girls are at a fragile point in their lives, and as important as a father is, a mother is very important," he said. "And [Crist] has been completely absent from their lives."
Rome, who lives where Blue Star is located in Manhattan, told the South Florida publication that their younger daughter was recently suspended from the boarding school she attended just outside Manhattan. The girl was living on his couch, waiting for Carole Crist to return the required paperwork, acknowledging the disciplinary measure. But she never did.
Attorney Heller told the New Times, "The original divorce agreement granted joint custody, but she hasn't seen them in two years, and the children's needs haven't been met. She won't answer calls. Her lawyers won't answer calls. And we had no choice but to go to family court."
The New York Post reported Carole Crist and Todd Rome were Hamptons fixtures until Carole left him in 2007, when it was reported the private-jet service owner "put his foot down on her lavish spending." She married Charlie in December 2008.
Neither Carole nor Charlie Crist were available to return Sunshine State News' phone calls Friday morning.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or (850) 727-0859.
