Kidnapped Kids Found on Facebook 15 Years Later

[sirmorluk]

[citation][nom]Tyellock[/nom]what was the wife like 15 years ago, if he was a dead-beat that didn't care about the kids, he would have just left them all behind, as a lot of fathers donot knowing the whole situation, its hard to judgefacebook is the root of evil, 2 kids lives thrown into turmoil, because of 1 trolling individual[/citation]
I agree this story doesn't pass the smell test. vomit>facebook

 

[mattclary]

[citation][nom]daworstplaya[/nom]Wow! Very bitter sweet ... It's almost sounds like she's breaking up the kids family for her own selfish reasons (but we know that isn't the case).[/citation]

Guess you have no children.

 

[killerclick]

[citation][nom]Anomalyx[/nom]They were his own kids! There was no court order or anything saying he could not have them.[/citation]

They were both their kids so yeah, it's kidnapping

 

[mattclary]

[citation][nom]bfstev[/nom]So what if the kids wanted to stay with the father? You just used the daughter for information to get your ex-husband imprissoned and snatch back the kids? At this point you were probably better off leaving them with the father than forcing their removal from what was their home and all their friends. Why would you do that? spite? Was he abusing them or something? If he wasn't, then you just emotionally scarred your daughter into probably never trusting you or anyone else ever again.[/citation]

Another person who has no children.

 

[mattclary]

For those of you morons who seem to think think the mother is wrong, you obviously don't have kids, or aren't good parents. My daughter is 6. If she were to disappear today, be it with her mother or a stranger, it would leave a HOLE in my life. I have loved many people in my life, none of them, not even my own mother, can begin to compare to the love I feel for my daughter. You don't "just let go" of a stolen child. I'm dumbfounded anyone could even say that.

 

[asc2]

[citation][nom]sliem[/nom]Well said. She should have let go after 15 years -- why scar a family? Move on already.[/citation]

If someone abducted your child, would you "move on" after fifteen years?

 

[Anomalyx]

[citation][nom]killerclick[/nom]They were both their kids so yeah, it's kidnapping[/citation]

As long as there is no custody order, you can take your own kids wherever you like, even if your spouse does not agree. Your spouse has no legal say in where you can/can't take your kids until he/she files for divorce and is granted custody

 

[boogalooelectric]

This is actually one of the cool things about a service like Facebook. I think its a great tool for these types of scenarios. I still will never open an account but i am glad to hear that it brought something positive to somebody, I am sure there are many more such stories regarding Myspace, Twitter, Facebook etc. But mostly all you hear about are the privacy concerns (which has helped me decide never to open an account) and how much a douche Zuckerberg is.

 

[killerclick]

[citation][nom]Anomalyx[/nom]As long as there is no custody order, you can take your own kids wherever you like, even if your spouse does not agree. Your spouse has no legal say in where you can/can't take your kids until he/she files for divorce and is granted custody[/citation]

The law disagrees and the guy was arrested.

 

[cletus_slackjawd]

I don't know the details of this but it does sound like the mother was not doing "what was right" for her kids.
Bring up charges on the father: yes
Put the kids father in jail and forceably remove them from their home: no
If the law was even remotely fair to the father in these split-ups then maybe he would have brought it to court for custody, but in some states, like Washington, it's automatic custody to the mother and the dad get's to pay alimony with 10% fee going to the State.

 

[Anomalyx]

I'm just going off of law+article. Law says if you have custody, it's not kidnapping. Unless ordered otherwise by a court, he had custody, being the father. This leaves 2 possibilities:
1 - It was perfectly legal and they were wrong to arrest him (without going into debate over whether any of it was right or wrong)
2 - There actually was a custody order in favor of the mother that the article failed to mention. If this is the case, then yes, it's kidnapping. But the answer to the question "was there, at any time before his arrest, a custody order?" is KEY.

 

[blackened144]

[citation][nom]killerclick[/nom]The law disagrees and the guy was arrested.[/citation]
You can be arrested for almost anything. The case going to trial and him being convicted is a completely different matter. My roommate in college blew .000 on the breathalyzer and was arrested. Once his results came back they let him go, but that doesnt change the fact that he was still arrested and still spent the night in jail and he still smelled like he took a dump in his pants when I picked him up..

 

[tayb]

[citation][nom]bfstev[/nom]So what if the kids wanted to stay with the father? You just used the daughter for information to get your ex-husband imprissoned and snatch back the kids? At this point you were probably better off leaving them with the father than forcing their removal from what was their home and all their friends. Why would you do that? spite? Was he abusing them or something? If he wasn't, then you just emotionally scarred your daughter into probably never trusting you or anyone else ever again.[/citation]

So what would you have this woman do? Because the time elapsed has been so long that justifies kidnapping? No way. The guy kidnapped her kids and you expect her to just hold her tongue when she finally finds them 15 years later? Do you have kids? I'm going to guess no because a mother NEVER stops. Losing a child is awful but having a child kidnapped and not knowing if they are okay, alive, dead, safe, etc is devastating. You can't possibly expect a mother to just sit there and not say a word when she found her kids. That's ridiculous.

Maybe it was not in the best interest of the children but you can't just allow kidnapping to go unpunished just because "it's been so long."

 

[FunYun]

[citation][nom]mattclary[/nom]For those of you morons who seem to think think the mother is wrong, you obviously don't have kids, or aren't good parents. My daughter is 6. If she were to disappear today, be it with her mother or a stranger, it would leave a HOLE in my life. I have loved many people in my life, none of them, not even my own mother, can begin to compare to the love I feel for my daughter. You don't "just let go" of a stolen child. I'm dumbfounded anyone could even say that.[/citation]

She is destroying their lives.

Yes, its horrible that the father kept them from her, but what good is she doing now?

Putting their father in jail, dragging them back to CA, away from friends, school, their lives, how is that going to help?

 

[Yuka]

And why did the father do that again? Maybe the mother was some sort of psycho? Who knows?

Why pass judgment on the father or the mother when we don't know all the details? It's just sad for the Kids actually on one hand... Bittersweet indeed.

Cheers!

 

[mdillenbeck]

[citation][nom]mattclary[/nom]For those of you morons who seem to think think the mother is wrong, you obviously don't have kids, or aren't good parents. My daughter is 6. If she were to disappear today, be it with her mother or a stranger, it would leave a HOLE in my life. I have loved many people in my life, none of them, not even my own mother, can begin to compare to the love I feel for my daughter. You don't "just let go" of a stolen child. I'm dumbfounded anyone could even say that.[/citation]
I think the rationale is from the kids' point of view. Since the father left with them at age 2 and 3 (for unknown reasons), they most likely don't have memories of their mother. Then she find them by Facebook, gets some info to contact the authorities, and has him arrested.

All the things left out means we have little to judge. We don't know what type of mother she was for the first few years, we don't know what type of father he was, and we don't know what the children would have wanted.

If we assume the mother was abusive, we can justify the father's reaction and consider this a tragedy. If we assume the father was abusive, we can celebrate the mother's victory in getting the man arrested.

All I can say is: tell me more.

 

[Kohlhagen]

I agree with many of these posts that are getting negative comments. I know I don't have children either, but I doubt these kids are happy that the father they have grown up with is behind bars. Or the fact that they have to get up and start a new life on the other side of the U.S.

The father probably does deserve prison time, and we don't know the details of how they were treated for the past 15 years. But these 2 probably don't want to see daddy in prison.

 

[blackened144]

[citation][nom]tayb[/nom]So what would you have this woman do? Because the time elapsed has been so long that justifies kidnapping? No way. The guy kidnapped her kids and you expect her to just hold her tongue when she finally finds them 15 years later? Do you have kids? I'm going to guess no because a mother NEVER stops. Losing a child is awful but having a child kidnapped and not knowing if they are okay, alive, dead, safe, etc is devastating. You can't possibly expect a mother to just sit there and not say a word when she found her kids. That's ridiculous. Maybe it was not in the best interest of the children but you can't just allow kidnapping to go unpunished just because "it's been so long."[/citation]
There is no proof that the father kidnapped anyone. As has been stated several time in this thread, unless there was a court order that gave sole custody to the mother, then the father is completely within his rights to take the children where ever he pleases. Women do it all the time, but since they are women they always get the benefit of the doubt.

 

[scuba dave]

Wow, I don't know what to think about this.. He violated a custody order. Bad. He raised his kids all by himself. Good, considering what most dads do, however thats mitigated alot by 90/10 female/male custody battles.

At this point.. Breaking up the family causes more suffering to the innocents, than to the guilty party.. But he obviously must be punished.. But what punishment would be sufficient? Hmm. Very difficult..

Well, I think what should be the final consideration in this, is find out WHY the daughter wants nothing to do with the mom. Find out what she was told about the mom growing up.

Then take whether or not the CHILDREN want to press charges on the father for what happened. Because lets face it, custody is something thats "for" the kids, not because she DESERVES to have them more than another. Custody isn't a possession, it's a PRIVILEGE. If at their age (basically adults) if they don't want to, no crime should be prosecuteable.

So take those two together, and come up with something reasonable. Obviously, as a single father, jail would destroy the family, so there are other ways. Just have to get creative.

This is a unique case, it needs a unique answer. Not just a generic: Go to Jail!!!

 

[vancouverboy]

Selfish mother! It's a unfortunate event, but if She really thinks for her children, she can move to Florida to live with them until they feel the relationship is earned back, and to know how/where the two "young adults" want to live... (maybe, they do better their life in Florida?)

Isn't it considered adult when a person turns 18 (at least, the girl) and have freedom to decide for his/herself? I have no problem with the court granting the mother custody of the two teens, but forcing them to give up everything (which they might like some) it's very cruel too.