Metro

‘Alienating’ good moms

Will the madness ever end?

Kelly Rutherford is a celeb who plays socialite Lily van der Woodsen on TV’s “Gossip Girl.’’ But at heart, she’s just a mom.

And on Friday, this hurting mother sprinted from the “Gossip’’ set in Long Island City and boarded a plane at JFK — coach class — to France. That’s where her children, Hermes, 5, and Helena, 3, who’ve lived their entire young lives in New York, were sentenced by a California judge to dwell with their father.

And what a dad!

Kelly’s ex-husband, Daniel Giersch, is a German citizen who evidently sponges off his mother and her French boyfriend. Giersch, by the way, is forbidden by the US Department of State from setting foot on American soil.

The children were handed to this character in May by LA Superior Court Judge Teresa Beaudet. It was to be temporary. But as spring turned to summer and then fall, and the kids started attending a French school (for which Kelly pays), the judge is showing no sign of letting up.

Beaudet — call her Judge Ratched — has dispensed international junk justice. And two little kids pay.

“I show up. I stay in a hotel. I’m jet-lagged. I see my kids after not seeing them for three weeks,’’ Kelly told me.

“We hold onto each other and tell each other, ‘I love you more than every leaf on every tree.’ They won’t let go of me, and then I have to leave.

“I’m just trying to keep myself together.”

Lately, Hermes has gone from screaming, “Mommy, I love you!’’ to keeping silent, unable to deal emotionally with the turmoil.

How the hell did this happen?

Is Kelly the world’s worst mom? How else to explain ripping small tots from her side?

Truth is, no one has called Kelly negligent or cruel. She’s a gem. Even the kids’ court-appointed law guardian recommended she get custody.

But Kelly has fallen victim to a specious claim that’s getting nearly as common as divorce itself. Kelly is accused by her ex of “parental alienation’’ — a new fad in bust-ups that’s wielded against women like a club.

Alec Baldwin was not the first.

The bullying actor won sympathy, claiming “alienation’’ forced him to call his then-11-year-old daughter, Ireland, a “thoughtless little pig’’ on voicemail. When Alec got caught, he played the victim of Ireland’s mom, Kim Basinger. He didn’t win custody. But he wrote a self-serving book on divorce that won a spot on the New York Times best-seller list.

It was worse for former Playboy model Bridget Marks. Her crying 4-year-old twins were ripped from her arms in 2004 after she suspected their dad, who was married to someone else, molested them. A judge ruled that just making the claim amounted to “parental alienation.’’ The kids eventually were returned. Gov. David Paterson signed 2009’s Bridget’s Law to protect women who make good-faith claims of abuse.

But Kelly’s case may be the first in which a man deemed unfit to enter the US was granted custody by an American judge — in a country not his own.

Rutherford, 43, and Giersch, 37, got hitched in California in 2006. Hermes came along. But when Kelly was two months pregnant with Helena, she caught her hub sending an e-mail to a woman, apologizing that he couldn’t hook up.

Kelly began divorce proceedings that grew ugly. She was terrified Giersch would kidnap the kids. And yet, for months she schlepped Hermes and Helena to Canada or Bermuda, where they could see their dad.

Then, in an insane decision, Judge Beaudet rapped Kelly. She wrote, “Daniel has facilitated the relationship of the children with Kelly . . . and Kelly simply has not done so.”

So why was Giersch deported? An affidavit by an investigator suggests he used “fraud” to get his visa, and failed to pay taxes. Solid guy.

Beaudet couldn’t be reached. Giersch’s lawyer, Fahi Takish Halin, told me, “To protect the children, Daniel won’t say anything in the press.”

Kelly insists she lost her kids because she raised questions in court about her ex-hub’s deportation. “What mother wouldn’t do that?’’

“At what point,’’ she said in tears,“will French courts say they are residents of France?’’

The judge’s final decision is due soon.

If this could happen to a celeb, it could happen to anyone. It already has.

Dopey DA making nookie mistakes

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has another black eye.

Hockey mom Anna Gristina was to be the prosecutor’s catch of the day. The upstate housewife was accused of doubling as an Upper East Side madam, supplying pricey women of easy virtue to rich and powerful captains of industry and law enforcement. But after Gristina was locked up on Rikers Island for four months, prosecutors came up empty. Gristina pleaded guilty last week to one count of promoting prostitution, and likely won’t spend another day in jail. She never opened her black book.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was accused, then freed, of allegations he sexually assaulted a hotel maid. A little lady walks.

It’s time for the DA to stop going after alleged sex criminals and prosecute criminals.

Literally, the nanny city

Soon, the city will send baby bumps to school.

Kids as young as 6 weeks old are to be admitted into Brooklyn’s first full-day education program, designed to smarten up and socialize burping, diaper-clad infants.

One question: How can Mayor Bloomberg, who virtually wants to force new mothers to breast-feed, raise the kids while they’re latching on to Mom?

This vampire love affair really sucks

Faced with career apocalypse, Kristen Stewart groveled her way back into Robert Pattin-son’s bed. The “Twilight’’ starlet’s popularity took a stake in the heart after she confessed to an affair with married Ru-pert Sanders, who directed her in “Snow White and the Huntsman.’’ Unknown is why RPattz gave her another chance.

She can always find another director. Sparkly vampires are far scarcer.

It’s selective faith basing

Five people were arrested for defacing subway ads that equate foes of Israel to “savages,’’ a message seen as hostile to Muslims.

Now the MTA will place disclaimers on “issue-based’’ ads that basically say, “It’s not our fault!’’

“The display of this advertisement does not imply the MTA’s endorsement of any views expressed,” the signs will say.

The MTA further distanced itself: from speech some find distasteful. “We deplore such hate messages and remain hopeful that the vast majority of advertisers . . . will remain responsible and respectful,” a statement reads.

Meanwhile, a new showing of Andres Serrano’s “Piss Christ’’ — a photo of a crucifix submerged in the artist’s urine — brought no government scorn as it was scheduled to be put on display.

The religious double standard is stunning.