In the state of Virginia, a parents rights cannot be involuntarily terminated unless the minor child is taken into custody by social services, put up for adoption, or willingly signed over so a third party can take the rights like a step parent. This law allows sex offenders who commit a crime against a child to still have parental rights to their biological children. I do not agree and I do not think a parent who is found guilty of a felony sexual crime should have any rights to any child. This law is affecting my family and I cannot understand how this is even possible after a conviction. I do understand that the state does not want a child to end up as ward of the state, but in my opinion that is the state saying it is OK for a child molester to have contact with biological children to most likely sexually assault them all because they chance ending up as a ward of the state if something happens to the other biological parent. In my case, we can not afford a lawyer to file for step parent adoption right now and I tried to do the only other thing I could think of to keep my child safe from this molester and yet in the state of Virginia I can not even petition the court to hear my case because this is the way the law is.