Todd and Julie Chrisley have broken their silence over the news surrounding the custody of their ten-year-old adopted granddaughter, Chloe. This is after Chloe’s biological mother said she wants to regain custody following the couple’s recent conviction.
Todd and Julie – recently convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and tax fraud – adopted Chloe, the daughter of Todd’s estranged son Kyle and Angela Johnson, in 2016.
Earlier this week, Angela spoke with TMZ regarding her plans to return to court and get Chloe back home. She previously shared custody with Todd for a few months in 2016 before her arrest after Kyle lost custody.
Now, in a statement released to People, the pair, 53 and 49, said they “are saddened by the unfortunate and misleading narrative currently being portrayed in the media regarding Chloe.”
Jessica Doyle, the family law attorney the Chrisleys used during their adoption process, also added that Chloe’s mom, Angela Johnson’s public statements are “simply not legally correct or even valid.”
“I handled the formal adoption of Chloe by Todd and Julie Chrisley. Angela Johnson’s parental rights were terminated when she voluntarily surrendered her parental rights to Todd and Julie Chrisley on March 24, 2017,” Jessica said.
“She has had no contact with the minor child since 2015.”
“Todd and Julie Chrisley don’t just have custody of Chloe. They are her legal parents through adoption,” Jessica added. “I have reviewed the public statements made by Angela Johnson. They are simply not legally correct or even valid.”
When speaking with TMZ concerning Chloe’s future now that the Chrisleys’ sentence, which will see Todd serve a 12-year sentence in prison and 16 months probation and Julie seven years in jail and 16 months probation, Angela said she’s yet to file any legal documents, but is in “the process of getting some legal papers filed so I can go back to court to get Chloe back home.”
“I want her home. She deserves to be home,” she said in a tearful video. “I’m her biological mom. I didn’t walk away from her. I was pushed out of her life.”
“In that timeframe that Chloe’s been gone, I was talking to attorneys, and we were trying to figure out which way to go about getting Chloe back home,” Angela explained, referencing Chrisleys’ move from Atlanta to Tennessee, while she is currently based in South Carolina.
“But at the same time, it was kind of like we were at a standstill because we were trying to figure out where we would actually end up in court,” she added.
During last week’s pre-recorded episode of the Unlocked podcast, Todd and Julie’s daughter Savannah Chrisley said Chloe fully understands what’s happening.
“She listens. She listens more than you think,” Savannah said. “She’ll put on her headphones and act like she is listening to something when in reality, nothing’s on.”
“So, you think she’s listening [to something else],” she continued, to which Julie replied, “When really she’s just listening to the conversation.”
“And so, all of the legal issues that we’ve had going on, she’s heard about, and she’s dealing with it in her own way,” Savannah added.
