Family fight over 'genius' boy

Child whose mom set up claim of amazing 298 IQ at center of family fight

By Julie Poppen, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 5, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Elizabeth Chapman was granted full custody in 2006.

Photo by Special To The News

Jane and George Chapman with their grandson Justin in March 2006. They say they haven't seen or heard from Justin for two years.

He was called a boy genius with an IQ off the charts.

Now the youngster smothered with global media attention for his stunning intellectual feats - later proved to be manufactured by his mother - is at the center of a dispute between her and her parents.

Jane and George Chapman, of suburban Rochester, N.Y., say they haven't seen or heard from Justin Chapman, their 14-year- old grandson, for two years despite a 2005 court order allowing visits with him.

Justin was profiled in the Rocky Mountain News in February 2002 for his amazing yet questionable intellectual accomplishments.

A Denver psychologist and gifted child expert concluded the boy, 6 years old at the time he was tested, had the world's highest IQ. Later, Elizabeth Chapman acknowledged she and her son studied an IQ test booklet before the exam.

Elizabeth Chapman and her parents have had a strained relationship for years.

The Chapmans said Justin, now a ninth- grader, visited them five times from 2003 to 2006 and seemed to enjoy himself. Then communication stopped. Jane Chapman said her grandson is believed to be living with Elizabeth in Colorado Springs. But a private investigator the Chapmans hired cannot find them.

"She's cut off contact completely," George Chapman said. "She will not put him on the phone to talk to us."

Expert cited 'greatest genius'

Elizabeth Chapman moved to Colorado with her son from New York in 2001 to take advantage of programs and experts in the field of gifted education and counseling, including psychologist Linda Silverman, who runs the Gifted Development Center in Denver.

Silverman tested Justin's IQ and recorded the 298 score on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Most IQ scores top out at 160. Silverman called Justin the "greatest genius to ever grace the Earth."

Silverman did not return a recent call for comment.

Justin became a celebrity. He was the youngest person ever to enroll in a for-credit course at the University of Rochester. That attracted more than 100 interview requests. He traveled the country and spoke at gifted education conferences.

Then in November 2001, Justin was hospitalized for an apparent suicide attempt. A Broomfield County judge removed the boy from his mother's care and she was accused of neglect.

Justin spent 22 months with three different foster parents between late 2001 and early 2004, his grandparents said.

In a March 2002 interview, his mother admitted copying the SAT score report of a neighbor's son and attributing the perfect math and verbal scores to Justin, then 6. She also said she had checked out a copy of an old version of the IQ test from the library and studied it with her son before Silverman tested him.

The neglect case filed in Broomfield against Elizabeth Chapman, 36, was officially closed in 2006. She was granted full custody of her son after completing counseling and parenting classes mandated by the court, her parents said.

The Chapmans tried twice - and failed - to get permanent custody of Justin, they said. Justin's grandparents say they have spent "six figures" on attorney fees, mandatory evaluations associated with court proceedings and about 17 trips to Colorado.

"We spent every dollar we had going back and forth," said George Chapman, 56, who has worked for Rochester Gas and Electric for 37 years. "I probably would be retired now if it wasn't for that."

After receiving an e-mail message requesting an interview, Elizabeth Chapman called using a restricted phone number. In a brief conversation, she said, "Everything is going well." She said there is gag order in the case, and that she she wanted to maintain confidentiality.

Kin exchange accusations

An El Paso County judge granted a permanent restraining order against Jane and George Chapman in December 2005, at their daughter's request, records show.

She had accused her parents of stalking her - a charge the grandparents rebut. In a 2001 interview with the Rocky, she said her parents employed a "totalitarian" approach to parenting. Her parents accuse her of "controlling" her son.

The restraining order does not impact a visitation decree calling for two visits in Colorado and two in New York per year, documents show.

In response to a motion filed by Jane and George Chapman, El Paso County District Court Judge J. Patrick Kelly issued a contempt of court citation against their daughter because of her alleged failure to comply with the visitation. A hearing is now set for November.

Court officials said they could not discuss the case because it involves a juvenile.

Jane Chapman said she and her husband are worried about their grandson.

"The bottom line is our daughter needs help and we want that kid," she said. "He's being abused by not seeing his family. He's got 80 relatives here. Everyone's heartbroken about this situation."

John Thirkell, chief deputy county attorney in El Paso County, said as long as the child's welfare is not at risk, there's not much courts can do to enforce visitation.

"I understand that's hard on people - but it's sort of like two neighbors having a dispute," Thirkell said.

Grandparents recall visits

Jane Chapman fondly recalls the last visit with her grandson two years ago. Every time the couple would see Justin, it was as if no time had passed, she said.

Justin seemed happy enough, she said, but he would never discuss his life in Colorado - other than saying he mowed lawns to make extra money. He wouldn't talk about school, friends or what he did for fun.

Instead, Justin and his grandparents would go to the park, fly kites, go out for ice cream, visit the Rochester Museum and Science Center - where Justin especially enjoyed the hands-on exhibits, she said.

George Chapman also recalled a trip to a beach at Lake Ontario.

"Even though it was really crisp that day, he didn't want to hurry and he spent a lot of time finding shells and talking of times past," George Chapman recalled. "We visited some of our relatives, including his great-grandparents."

Then the time would come to leave.

"It was horrible having to put him back on the plane," Jane Chapman said. "He always said, 'I don't want to go back.' "

Still, he knew he had to go and he loved his mother. "That's still his mom. And he's a great kid. I could see him wanting to take care of his mom."

poppenj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5176

• June 5, 2008

  4:21 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  fatdog writes:

  Where is the boy's father? jkd

• June 5, 2008

  5:06 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  roger44 writes:

  It's a shame when people fight like that, but, I don't know the whole story for sure, seems there's always something that doesn't come out.

• June 5, 2008

  7:39 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  LingLingfor_prez writes:

  I agree with Roger. Something is missing and not really sure what it is.

• June 5, 2008

  7:41 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  DahmersCookbook writes:

  The government needs to take him underground to finish some of Einsteins works so we can time travel already. But he's in A trailer-park in Aurora with 70's green shag carpet, yellow walls, and he probably sobs when his mom puts back the shine.

• June 5, 2008

  7:56 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  DeimosJB writes:

  Mom fights with grandparents; both sides probably have some points. Meanwhile, the kid gets the shaft.

• June 5, 2008

  8:39 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  ruckus writes:

  its a tough life when you're smarter than your parents...

• June 5, 2008

  9:06 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  DahmersCookbook writes:

  Big_D, What is the vague purpose of the Particle Accelerators? Why try to create A black-hole?

• June 5, 2008

  10 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  athought writes:

  I'm not sure they're trying to create a black hole with a particle accelerator (creating a singularity by smashing matter together). They may be trying to figure out a better way of creating anti-matter than we have now or assess string theory at the quark (sub-atomic) level. I understand just enough physics to sound smart but I couldn't explain most of what I said in layman's terms.

  BTW, this kid will likely trip out like the one in Greenwood Village. Mom looks and sounds scary.

• June 5, 2008

  11:12 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  joggle writes:

  We don't have nearly enough information to form an opinion about this. If he has good friends that will make up a lot for a lousy family situation. If he doesn't have any friends then he's most likely in trouble.

  Since he's in 9th grade he could decide for himself where he wants to live but his mother would exert enormous pressure on him to stay with her.

  One thing I can tell you is it is REALLY hard to get custody of a child if the mother fights back. My father fought for custody of my half sister from her mom who was living for years at a homeless shelter and couldn't win despite owning his own successful business and could provide a very stable environment. She had to live with friends often while attending school. Fortunately she's very bright and has very good friends and her mom has moved in with someone so everything is going to work out for her--but still, it's certainly frustrating (that was in Texas, but it's probably much the same here in Colorado). At least he did get his visitation rights so she comes to visit him every summer and on half of the holidays.

• June 5, 2008

  12:36 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  ArvadaMiner writes:

  The situation may not be ideal for this boy, but the El Paso County attorney is right. If the child's welfare is not at risk, the courts should stay out of it. The grandparents may not agree with the parenting techniques of their daughter. But the mother is still ultimately responsible for raising her child. The grandparents had their chance when raising their daughter to instill their values. It's their daughter's turn, and though she may be making many mistakes, her parents would do better to offer support rather than fight her in court. The daughter may not accept their support, but I don't blame her for avoiding contact with her parents given the amount of grief they have caused by taking this to the courts. The mother is not abusing her child by keeping him from contacting his grandparents. In time, he will be able to make his own choice about when he wants to talk to or visit them. Actually, a 9th grader knows how to make phone calls, even if this kid is only half as smart as they originally claimed! I think some previous bloggers are right in that there are a lot of gaps in this story.

• June 5, 2008

  1:05 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  scastaneda writes:

  WOW! Even if he did study for the IQ test, 298 is amazing. In my expert opinion (Which means I'm a total layperson) I'd guess mom is slightly unbalanced.
  If the boy attempted suicide 1n 2001, something's up. Even exceptionally gifted 6-year-olds don't attempt suicide very often.

• June 5, 2008

  1:52 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Jimmied writes:

  OK, Mom is definitely weird, and has pushed this young man hard based on her own fantasies. Despite the fact that there was cheating involved, this kid obviously has a gift. Mom should let it develop naturally. Who knows? Maybe that is what she is now doing after realizing the stress she placed on her son. Maybe she is keeping him away from his grandparents for good reason. It is odd that the court chose to place him in foster care for nearly two years when there were relatives willing to care for him. We simply don't know the whole story. Parental rights should reign supreme to the rights of grandparents. I know that my mother-in-law would love to have total say in exactly how my kids are raised. The only thing that keeps her at bay is the knowledge that too much interference on her part equals less time spent with the grandkids.

• June 5, 2008

  2:56 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  davies writes:

  The mom looks hot to me, with those big googly glasses. She looks like a strict but passionate librarian or something. I'd like to pick her up, drop her smart kid off at a overnight MENSA conference, and then talk dumb to her all night. She'd probably whack me with her ruler, oooooh...

• June 5, 2008

  8:54 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Heidi writes:

  davies,
  I was whacked with a ruler by a nun in school. I don't see the thrill in it. This woman looks like a nun to me.

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