Band-Aid heiress Libet Johnson — whose niece, Casey, was buried yesterday — is expected in Albany today when her lawyers go before the Court of Appeals to try to win custody of the Cambodian boy she adopted seven years ago with her then-boyfriend, Dr. Lionel Bissoon.
Libet and the anti-aging guru lived with the child, William, at her Central Park West apartment until 2005.
“When the romance went sour, he was told to leave the apartment and was not allowed to see his son,” Bissoon’s spokeswoman told Page Six. “It’s heartbreaking for the boy. He’s too young to know what’s going on, but he’s the one who’s really suffering.”
When Libet, 60, — sister of Jets owner Woody Johnson — formally adopted William, her lawyers never mentioned that Bissoon was the boy’s adoptive father.
The adoption was voided by Manhattan Surrogate Court three years ago, but Libet was given temporary custody of William, who is now in first grade at a private school. Bissoon, author of “The Cellulite Cure,” was granted six hours of visitation a week.
Libet’s prior appeal was rejected by the Appellate Division in November 2008, but the case is now going to the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest.
Meanwhile, sources close to the Johnson family say Casey’s battle with Libet over music manager John Dee four years ago was the last straw for Woody. “Her father wouldn’t talk to her after the fight with Libet,” said one source.
But Casey’s mother, Sale Johnson, didn’t help matters when she swooped in last year and took away Ava, 3, the daughter Casey had adopted from Kazakhstan. A friend said losing the girl took away Casey’s will to live.
“There’s tough love, and then there’s dead,” the friend said. “Where were those people who supposedly loved her? When she needed them, they weren’t there.”