Rifqa Bary exempted from joint counseling

Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17 (Facebook photo)

A judge has ruled that a teen who fled her Muslim family in Ohio after she converted to Christianity, but later was ordered to return to the state, should be exempted from joint counseling sessions.

The report comes from Jerry Wilson at the Examiner, who told of the results of today's court hearing for Rifqa Bary.

The attorney for the teen, Kort Gatterdam, is not allowed to discuss the case because of a gag order by the judge in the case.

But Wilson reported the court hearing was called because an attorney for the teen's parents, Omar Tarazi, asked the court that it halt the stream of Christmas cards going to the teen.

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The teen's parents also had sought a contempt of court ruling for their daughter for refusing to attend Muslim counseling sessions.

But Wilson reported Mary Goodrich, the magistrate, ruled that individual counseling sessions would be better, and the motion regarding Christmas cards was withdrawn.

The next court hearing in the case is Jan. 19. The key issue remaining is whether she will be ordered to return to her family's home. When she fled she stated she feared for her life because of her "apostasy: – abandoning Islam in favor of Christianity.

She said she feared she would be victim of an "honor killing" to clear the family's name of the insult of her decision.

She now is in a foster home in Ohio after being ordered to return there from Florida. She initially fled to Florida to stay with friends and later was moved to foster care there. Ultimately, she could be left in foster care or returned to her family, but in either circumstance she will turn 18 in August 2010.

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John Stemberger, the Florida attorney who worked on her case for a time, told Fox News it would be a "victory" for her if a court declared her independent.:

As WND reported, Bary, 17, an honor student and cheerleader, was raised in a Muslim family in Columbus, Ohio. She became a Christian as a result of her interactions with children at school.

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On July 19, Bary, a native of Sri Lanka, hitchhiked to a bus station and ran away, eventually arriving in Florida, because she says her family would murder her.

Despite claims that she was beaten and threatened by her Muslim father, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement found "no clear evidence of criminal activity," and a Florida judge ordered her returned to Ohio.

Asked why she ran away, Bary said, "I was threatened by my dad. When my dad found out – I had a Facebook, that's how he found out – and phone calls from the Muslim community started coming in with e-mails that confronted me. And I had a laptop and he took that laptop and waved it in the air, and he was about to beat me with it, and he said, 'If you have this Jesus in your heart, you're dead to me. You're not my daughter.' And I refused to speak but he said, 'I will kill you. Tell me the truth.' In these words, bad words, cuss words. So I knew that I had to get away."

Her father, Mohamed Bary, has denied the accusations.

Currently, under foster care in Ohio, the girl's phone and Internet usage has been supervised by the Franklin County Children Service Agency under a judge's order.