Chapter Overview
This chapter describes how the criminal-justice system responds to family- abduction cases. It provides an overview of laws aimed at finding missing children and bringing abductors to justice. It explains what parents can expect from law enforcement and prosecutors at all levels and how to request their intervention.
Parents should pursue all appropriate remedies simultaneously, both civil and criminal. Below is a summary of the available criminal remedies that are more fully discussed in this chapter.
1. Immediately report your missing child to local law enforcement.
2. Request law enforcement to enter information about your child into the National Crime Information Center-Missing Person File without delay. Law enforcement is required to enter every case of a missing child into the NCIC-MPF.
3. If you have trouble getting law enforcement to take a missing person’s report or enter information about your child into NCIC, contact your state missing children’s clearinghouse or National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for help. The FBI can enter valid cases into NCIC if local law enforcement fails to do so. Law enforcement is required to inves- tigate missing-children cases reported to NCIC.
4. Actively search for your child even while the case is being investigated. 5. Evaluate the pros and cons of criminal prosecution. If the pros outweigh
the cons and you are committed to going through with a prosecution, even if you recover your child, contact state prosecutors about prosecut- ing the abductor. If your child has been abducted to another country, you may also contact the U.S. Attorney to discuss federal criminal charges under the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act.
6. If the abductor is charged with a state felony and has fled to another state or country, talk to the prosecutor about seeking an Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution warrant, pursuant to which the FBI investigates the case. 7. Suggest to law enforcement that they contact NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST
(1-800-843-5678) to request two publications, available free of charge, titled Missing and Abducted Children: A Law-Enforcement Guide to Case Investigation and Program Management and Recovery and Reunification of Missing Children: A Team Approach.
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ESPONSE8. Suggest to prosecutors that they contact the American Prosecutors Research Institute at 703-739-0321, for their manual titled Investigation and Prosecution of Parental Abduction.
9. Ask the prosecutor and/or law enforcement if you will need a local court order to recover your child once the child is located. In some states you will have to go into a local court to obtain an order enforcing your out-of- state custody order.
10. To avoid confusion caused by conflicting custody orders, promptly file or register your custody order in a court in the jurisdiction where you locate the abductor. The legal authority for doing this is found in state law, either the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act or Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act.
11. Go back to court to modify your custody order to include provisions to prevent a reabduction.
12. Contact state and federal crime-victim programs to find out if you are eligible for assistance.
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Left-Behind Parent’s Role
While pursuing criminal remedies described in this chapter that are appropriate to the situation, a left-behind parent should actively pursue all available civil rem- edies to locate and recover the child and prevent a reabduction.
If your child is missing, or the abductor is criminally charged, press for an active investigation by law enforcement. Cooperate with law-enforcement investigators but try to develop leads on your own even as law enforcement is investigating.
Although law enforcement may be able to initiate an investigation and even locate the child, the court or recovering agency may not release the child to the left-behind parent if the custody issue has not been resolved in civil court. You must work through the civil courts to secure and enforce your custody rights while pursuing civil remedies against the abductor. Promptly take steps to get a custody determination if you do not already have one. If you have an order, you should be prepared to file an enforcement action once your child is found. Do not rely on the criminal process to vindicate your civil custody rights. The prosecutor is not your private lawyer. He or she represents the public interest in having the state or federal criminal laws enforced. Your own lawyer represents your per- sonal interest in having your child returned and can go to family court on your behalf to try to accomplish this.
You may also find it necessary to go back to court for a modification of the original custody order. You may ask the court to change custody, restrict the abductor’s visitation rights, or order other prevention measures to safeguard against a reabduction. These steps are necessary even if a criminal court’s sentence for parental kidnapping temporarily alters an abductor’s exercise of cus- tody or visitation rights through conditions of probation or incarceration. The abductor’s rights and responsibilities toward the child continue to be defined by the existing custody determination unless and until it is modified by a civil court with custody jurisdiction.