Why GH’s Valentin Cassadine Should Win The Bad Parent Of The Year Award

If there’s one thing General Hospital’s Valentin Cassadine strives to be, it’s a good father. However, he often fails at that job miserably, and none more so than the past year.

Valentin Cassadine Tries But Fails

Back in 2016, when Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) and Charlotte (Scarlett Fernandez) were first introduced to the Port Charles scene, we wondered what kind of dad he could really be considering that the gestational carrier who gave birth to Charlotte was parading her around town for months telling different men they were her father. Valentin was nowhere to be seen as Claudette (Bree Williamson) kept Charlotte to herself, but as soon as Valentin arrived in town, he claimed her and brought her to live with him at Wyndemere.

Eventually, Valentin gave Charlotte a doting stepmom when he married Nina (then played by Michelle Stafford), but by the time she made it to the third grade, we saw how BOTH Nina and Valentin were failing this girl as parents. School teacher Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) informed them their little girl was bullying Aiden and they refused to believe it. In fact, they rewarded her behavior by taking her on trips to New York City, thinking that all she needed was a little extra attention and that Willow had to be blowing things out of proportion.

Well, if Valentin thought Charlotte was starving for attention then, why would he pay almost no attention to her as she reached her teenage years?

GH: Valentin Pushes Charlotte Aside

For months, Valentin was so worried about the fact that his evil dad Victor (Charles Shaughnessy) had his daughter hidden away at a French boarding school that he committed a litany of crimes at Victor’s behest while lying to Anna (Finola Hughes) about what he was up to. When he finally told Anna the truth and got Laura (Genie Francis) and Kevin (Jon Lindstrom) to help rescue her and bring her home, one would have thought he wouldn’t let her out of his sight. Instead, he ended up on the run with Anna for months while he left Charlotte to live with Kevin and Laura.

Even when Valentin and Anna returned to town and could come out of hiding and Laura and Kevin had to leave town, he pawned her off on her former stepdad Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) and his girlfriend Sam (Kelly Monaco). Sure, she was living with her brother Rocco, but all she wanted was Papa.

Valentin And Nina Are At It Again

However, all that bad parenting is child’s play compared to learning your 15-year-old daughter is committing crimes and could even be an arsonist and doing nothing about it. Like with the bullying, Valentin has rewarded Charlotte for her transgressions with a brand-new house. He even made sure the security footage of her breaking into Anna’s room was deleted and refused to even confront her on what he knew. He also has Nina (now played by Cynthia Watros) on his side once again trying to solve Charlotte’s problems the wrong way.

Valentin’s first instinct was to make sure Charlotte would have legal representation if she was ever caught, but getting his daughter the psychological help she’s probably needed for years hasn’t occurred to him yet. Does Charlotte have to kill someone for Valentin to realize sweeping your child’s problems under the rug is really bad parenting? Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that, and Valentin has a wake-up call soon.

The best place for true soap fans to be is our Facebook groups. Have you joined? If you love soap spoilers, gossip, and fans as dedicated as yourself, check out Days of our Lives Fans, General Hospital Exclusive, The Young and the Restless Fans, and The Bold and the Beautiful Fans.