 Since that time Villaverde blocked Clara from seeing her father, with the complicity of the Portuguese Juvenile Courts which, in violation of the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction and a formal request by Italian authorities under that treaty for the return of Clara to her home in Rome, in 2005 awarded custody to Villaverde who had repeatedly violated the terms of her temporary custody since 2000.He is married to Marcella Di Palo.They met in Matera, Italy, in July 2005 and have been sharing life and work together.