A judge in the US state of Utah has ordered that a foster child be removed from the care of a lesbian couple and placed with a heterosexual family.

The Utah Division of Child and Family Services is searching for ways to challenge Tuesday's decision.

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The decision, made by Judge Scott Johansen in the town of Price, has been criticised by gay rights groups.

In an interview with a local television news station, the couple said that the judge referred to research that children are better off when they are raised by heterosexual parents.

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This is not the first time that Judge Johansen's decision have come under scrutiny.

In 1997, he was reprimanded for slapping a 16-year-old in the face at a courthouse in Price.

And in 2012, he drew attention for ordering a 13-year-old girl's hair cut in exchange for a lighter sentence. The girl was being prosecuted for cutting the hair of another, younger girl.

That same year, he was criticised for sending a teenage boy on probation to jail after he received a poor school report. The boy was on probation for shoplifting a pack of gum.