John Skelton appeared Friday for a brief court hearing as part of his divorce case. The judge asked him whether he was prepared to give the children to their mother, and he answered: "I can't."
A pre-trial hearing is March 18.
Skelton is charged with parental kidnapping in the disappearance. They were last seen were at his home in Morenci along the Michigan-Ohio state line.
He said during a custody hearing in December that he gave his sons to someone from an "organization."
Authorities and volunteers searched for the boys in Ohio and Michigan. A police chief leading the effort has said he didn't expect a positive outcome.
