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Justina Pelletier: All I want is to be with my family and friends

(MyFoxBoston.com) – Justina Pelletier has been in the middle of a custody battle for more than a year, and Monday she released a personal plea to the governor asking to be reunited with her family.

The Connecticut teen says she wants Governor Deval Patrick and the judge on her case to end the custody battle she's been caught up in. Since the battle began, dozens have spoken for and about Pelletier.

She recorded her plea on video and says she wants to be home with her loved ones.

“That’s all I want, to be with my family and friends back home right now,” she said in the video.

The Department of Children and Families took Pelletier from her parents 16 months ago after a dispute over her medical care. Her parents say she has a rare genetic disorder, but DCF believes the teen’s health problems are psychological and exacerbated by her parents.

She now lives in a residential treatment facility in her home state of Connecticut. She can’t move back in with her parents and sisters until it’s approved by Suffolk County Juvenile Court Judge Joseph Johnston.

Pelletier speaks directly to the judge and governor in the video, saying, “Please let me go home Judge Johnston and Governor Patrick, please right now. I need to be home with my family.”

Pelletier’s father Lou claims the video was his daughter’s idea.

“No, no, there was no script there. She couldn’t read it if she wanted to this is her, her words,” he said.

It is possible that the teen could get her wish. On Friday, the state filed a motion to close her case.

Her father says he’ll believe it when he sees it.

“We have come to learn actions speak louder than words,” he said.