While Ann Joyner was pregnant, her husband was arrested for kidnaping and raping another woman. He later was sentenced as an habitual sex offender based on earlier offenses, of which Joyner was unaware. She later divorced him, remarried, and filed a petition to terminate his parental rights over their daughter. The trial court agreed, noting that termination was in the best interests of the child and that the father effectively had abandoned her. The First District reversed but certified the case to the Supreme Court.