Preventing Parental Kidnapping After Divorce

July 7 , 2013

Source: pasadenalawoffice.com

Parental kidnapping, while not something most parents will need to worry about after a Pasadena divorce, is still a risk all custodial parents must be aware of.

The term parental kidnapping is used to mean that a parent who does not have legal custody has taken the child without the permission of the custodial parent. The parent taking the child may leave the state or even the country in order to avoid having the custodial parent make contact.

If your ex threatens to leave with your child, there are several preventative measures you can take. If you are separated, but not yet divorced, a judge can provide you with a temporary order of custody. Without a temporary order of custody, you both have equal rights to the child. Your lawyer can also help you implement protections in your custody order, such as having precise pickup times and requiring regular phone contact during visits.

Keep current photos of your child and your ex on hand to provide to police if needed. It is also a good idea to keep info such as your ex’s Social Security number, driver’s license number, and the make and model of his or her car on hand to provide law enforcement in the event of an abduction.

Talk to your child’s daycare provider and/or teacher to make sure they know that your ex is not allowed to pick up your child. Schools and child care facilities assume both parents have equal custody rights unless they are told otherwise.

If your child has a passport, place it in a safe deposit box that your ex can not access. If your child does not have a passport, you should have his or her name added to the Children’s Passport Issuance Alert System. This ensures that you will be contacted if someone tries to apply for a passport in your child’s name.

 

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ABP World Group – updated contact information

July 7 , 2013

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Innocents Abroad: The Rise of Cross-Border Child Abduction by Parents

July 2 , 2013

Source: The Huffington Post

In recent years, the world has seemed a more connected place.

Palm-sized technology has condensed contact between continents while the flow of people across time zones has increased dramatically.

Experience of new horizons – and the different cultures, cuisines and tongues which comes from it – has made for a more cosmopolitan life.

However, official research and the daily caseload of myself and other family lawyers all too often illustrates that there can be negative consequences.

The number of international family disputes requiring the involvement of UK courts has almost quadrupled in the space of only four years, according to a report published by one of this country’s most senior judges.

The data, which was published by Lord Justice Thorpe, who acts as the Head of International Family Justice for England and Wales, showed there were only three new cases of that type handled by the office in 2007. The following year, the total had risen to 65 but by the end of last year, it had reached 253.

Lord Justice Thorpe said that the matters involved child abduction, adoption and forced marriage and were due, he claimed, to “globalisation, increasing movement of persons across borders, and the ever rising number of family units which are truly international”.

His remarks confirm something which is all too apparent to myself and my colleagues atPannone LLP, as we have remarked upon previously.

The comments are also supported by figures released not by the courts but by Government which evidenced what many believe to be at the heart of the trend which Lord Justice Thorpe is witnessing.

Last year, the Foreign Office published its own figures, illustrating that the number of parental child abductions which it had been called upon to assist in had climbed by 88 per cent in a decade.

It revealed that a specialist unit which it had set up to deal with the problem was getting four calls every day, half of which were turning into new cases.

Of course, it is not only relationships forged by individuals of different nationalities which run into difficulties. However, when these partnerships break down, there is often a natural tendency to return to family and familiar surroundings to recover from any feelings of disappointment or distress.

Where children are involved, such matters become more complicated, especially when one or other partner decides to remove them from the country in which they had been resident.

A country’s incidence of these sorts of cases mirror its ties with other states. The Foreign Office cited parental child abductions involving 84 different nations. According to Lord Justice Thorpe’s report, Poland, Pakistan and Spain were the three places which featured most frequently in the disputes which came to his attention.

Once removed, children are sometimes only returned after a complex process which can be long and drawn out. There can be serious ramifications for the families concerned, both legally and emotionally.

Taking a child out of the country without the express permission of a court or the other parent can be a criminal offence. No matter how comforting the prospect of returning to one’s family overseas might seem once a relationship has broken down the consequences need to be seriously considered.

Sadly, my workload and that of other family lawyers specialising in these cases shows no sign of letting up, regardless of the legal and personal consequences. If anything, the increasingly common nature of international partnerships makes further rises likely.

Given the prominence of Poland in figures from both Lord Justice Thorpe and the Foreign Office, it will be interesting to see whether allowing two other East European countries – Romania and Bulgaria – to live elsewhere across the continent without limitation will further fuel the number of international family units living in Britain and the terrible complications of their breaking apart.

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Turkey: 736 files regarding international child abduction cases seen in 11 years

July 22, 2012

Source: todayszaman.com

A total of 736 files regarding international parental child abduction cases were processed between 2000 and 2011 in Turkey, according to recent data from the Justice Ministry.

The data provides detailed information about the procedure followed in international parental child abduction incidents in Turkey. Firstly, requests for legal assistance made from other countries by individuals claiming that their children have been abducted and brought into Turkey or have been wrongfully detained in the country are thoroughly examined by the Justice Ministry, and following the examination, the relevant files are sent to the chief public prosecutor’s office in the location where the child is believed to be residing.

In these cases of parental abduction, if the parent who has taken the child without the other parent’s consent refuses to return the child to their country of habitual residence, an official lawsuit is launched against them.

Turkey is party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. It signed the Hague convention on Jan. 21, 1998, and the convention entered the Turkish domestic code on Feb. 15, 2000, when it was published in Turkey’s Official Gazette. From the time it was published to the end of 2011, 128 requests for legal assistance regarding child abduction cases in Turkey were made to other countries, while 618 requests for legal assistance were made to Turkey.

The data also showed that the return of foreign criminals to their home countries is being carried out in line with the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters. Criminals are sent to their home countries after a thorough examination of the relevant documents by the Justice Ministry. The data noted that 53 criminals from 16 countries were returned to Turkey in 2011. Of these 53 criminals, 17 were sent back from Germany, while eight were sent back from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC). Furthermore, the number of criminals caught in Turkey and subsequently deported in 2011 was eight. Most were deported to Germany and the US.

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Emergency Help Me App For Child Abduction – Hero

July 21, 2012

Source: Smarterapps

Good Morning American contributor and child abduction victim Elisabeth Smart is helping to publicize a new app to help children in danger.  The free app is called Hero, and is available at http://www.apptooth.com/Hero   There are versions for iOS and Android.

When in an emergency situation, the user presses the “Help Me” button.  The smartphone then streams audio, video, and GPS location to not only preselected numbers, but everyone within a five-mile radius.  A parent can also use this app to send a picture of a child to everyone within a five-mile radius.

According to Smart, “I can’t say for sure it would have prevented me fromp being kidnapped, but if I did have the app with me, it has a location device that drops a pin exactly where you were at.  Every single person can be a hero.  Every person can make a difference.”

High Country Apps, located in Bozeman, Montana, has developed an app called “Flora of the Yellowstone.”  The app helps users identify flowers, bushes, trees, and grasses native to Yellowstone National Park.  The app costs from $7.99 to $9.99, and has versions for Kindle Fire, Android Tablet, iPad, and iPhone.  It is available at http://www.highcountryapps.com, and in the app stores of Google Play, Amazon, or Apple.

The app was created by software developer Katie Gibson and conservationist consultant and author Whitney Tilt.  It is based on Tilt’s book, “Flora of Montana’s Gallatin Region.”  High Country Apps also plans to release a similar app for Glacier National Park.

Apple just released a podcast app which allows users to subscribe to podcasts of their favorite shows and have them downloaded automatically.  This replaces Apple’s Music app, and has solved many of the problems that generated complaints on the Music app.  The app has been described as allowing users the same level of convenience on their iPhones that they previously had with iTunes on their desktops.

The app is free, and is expected to be included with the next operating system, iOS 6.  The advantage of the podcasts app is that many other apps are streaming only, which consume lager amounts of 3G time and battery power.  The app also returns podcasts to the iPad, whose version of the Music app no longer had a category for them.

Apple also announced that the new Google Chrome app is the most-downloaded free app for both the iPhone and iPad.  Both devices have dedicated versions of the app, designed to maximize the advantages of each format.  The apps have many of the same features of the computer browser, including tabbed browsing, and an integrated search and address box.  It also has an incognito setting which allows the user to browse without being tracked.

Users can also use the mobile Google Chrome app to view their bookmarks, passwords, and open tabs from other devices running Chrome, including computers.  The app also allows the user to send web pages from a PC to an iOS device for remote reading.  As of this writing, out of 3,574 users who have rated the app, 2,855 have given it the highest rating of five stars.

A new app called Wickr has been created for all iOS devices.  The app encrypts all communications, including email and text messages.  It makes them “uncrackable” and untraceable.  Users can destroy communications after receiving them, and no trace of them are left on the devices.  Wickr plans on having a version of the app for Android smartphones and tablets on the market soon.

The app was created by a cadre of hackers and security specialists, including computer crime investigator Christopher Howell, former military network security officer Kara Coppa, security technology engineering professor Robert Statica, and Nico Sell of Def Con hacker gathering fame.

Wickr will soon have versions for laptop and desktop computers and popular email programs.
The app is free, and users will be given the option to purchase an enhanced version.

Simultaneous with the release of the movie, “The Amazing Spider-Man,” Gameloft has released a game app called “The Amazing Spider-Man.”  The app is $6.99, and is out in versions for both Android and iOS devices.  The app takes full advantage of Apple’s new graphics, and the game reportedly looks a lot like the user is “inside the movie.”

The mechanics of playing the game are simple, and allows the user to control Spider-Man on a total of 25 missions, with maneuvers such as wall-climbing, web-shooting, and swinging through the air from building to building.  The game also has a combat mode, and the user can “purchase” new skills and moves by amassing “points,” or can actually purchase them with money.

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Child Abduction Rising Worldwide

July 21, 2012

Source

Children were considered “treasures” in some peaceful, primitive societies where parents would not punish them physically and would strive to keep the child sheltered from all threats. This natural instinct of protecting one’s child seems to have been weakened by the transformation in human societies where child trafficking is a thriving black business. From the around the world, a marked rise in child abduction has been reported in media, and the story continues.

Perhaps the most startling increase in child abduction cases comes from India where an NGO report informed that in 15 years time, from 1994 to 2009, kidnapping of children in the country went up by more than 900 percent. The report notes that 75 percent of the victims come from poor families or lower socio-economic classes. The motives for these cases of abduction vary, mostly human trafficking and forcing into labor or prostitution.

Pakistan, considered one of the most dangerous countries in the context of child safety has also witnessed a marked rise in the incidence of child abduction. Last year, more than 2500 cases of child abduction surfaced in Karachi city alone; ransom being the motive behind most abductions while abduction by terror groups have also been on a rise which leads to forced recruitment and training of these children as militants. It is noteworthy that most suicide bombers reportedly fall in the age range of later teens to early 20s. Among other places, kids going to or from school are also frequently become the victim of abduction – many a time involving the perpetration of a relative or friend of the family.

In Egypt (Africa), concerns about child abductions have been raised this year with an estimated three-fold increase in child abduction cases since the uprising overthrew President Hosni Mubarak’s regime in 2011. An NGO head working in Egypt revealed that the main reason the children in the country were abducted for was the black business of organ trafficking, though kidnapping for ransom also happens in cases where abductors are certain the child’s parents are in a position to pay a big sum for getting their child back.

Even in the developed world, child abduction continues to rise. A peculiar motive for many reported abductions in the United Kingdom is parental custody. A parent abducts their children from the UK to take overseas into countries where the authorities can’t exert legal or political influence to retrieve them. In 2011, BBC reported a rise of 10 percent in child abduction cases.

Children in the 21^st century are still considered treasures – not only by their parents but also by organized criminal gangs and traffickers to whom a child is not a life but a form of quick money. These times call for ever stronger parental instincts of protection to make sure the human treasure is not exploited inhumanely.

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Fugitive Wanted For International Parental Kidnapping

July 19, 2012

Source: alexandrianews.org

The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced today the addition of Faical Ben Abdallah Chebbi, to the “Washington Field Office’s Wanted Fugitives” list. Chebbi, a former resident of Prince George’s County, Md., is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Tunisia and is wanted for international parental kidnapping.

On October 26, 2011, following his divorce proceedings, Chebbi, 40, was awarded visitation rights with his two children, Zainab, 3, and Eslam, 6. On November 11, 2011, Chebbi obtained his children from their maternal grandparents’ residence in Prince George’s County, Md. The children were supposed to be returned on November 13, 2011; however, on November 11, 2011, Chebbi and the children flew from Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Va., to Germany, and continued to Tunis, Tunisia. On November 12, 2011, Chebbi contacted the children’s mother who resides in Fairfax County, Va., and informed her that he and the children were in Tunisia and would not return to the U.S.

 Zainab Chebbi

Eslam Chebbi

On November 17, 2011, the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Maryland, issued an order for Chebbi to return the children. On December 19, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a federal warrant for Chebbi’s arrest for removing the children from the U.S. and retaining them outside the U.S. with the intent to obstruct the lawful exercise of parental rights.

Chebbi is 6’6” (198 cm) and weighs approximately 200 pounds (91 kg) with black hair, brown eyes and a medium complexion. Chebbi’s daughter, Zainab, has brown hair and brown eyes and has a mole on her right hip. Eslam, Chebbi’s son, has black hair and brown eyes. Both children speak English and are believed to be with Chebbi in Tunisia.

Chebbi speaks fluent Arabic, English and French and is likely to visit Algeria, Libya, Egypt and France. He may use an alias when crossing borders. While residing in the Washington, D.C. area, Chebbi was a limousine driver for several companies and operated his own limousine business called Airport Access. Chebbi is believed to continue to operate a self-employed business in Tunis, Tunisia, under the name Westwind Limousine.

The FBI investigates violations of the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act (IPKCA) of 1993 which states that a criminal arrest warrant can be issued for a parent who takes a juvenile under 16 outside of the U.S. without the other custodial parent’s permission. The FBI works these cases in partnership with international authorities through the U.S. Department of State, Interpol and FBI Legal Attaché offices.

Individuals with information concerning Faical Chebbi, or his children, call 1-800-CALL-FBI or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate. Additional information regarding Faical Chebbi, including his wanted poster, is available on the FBI Washington Field Office’s website at http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/parent/faical-chebbi.

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Images: 27 parents wanted for parental kidnapping

July 18, 2012

Source: wcvb.com

The FBI lists 27 parents on its Most Wanted list for parental kidnappings. See pictures and information on the parents and children involved in these cases. See more here

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Parental Alienation Disorder: A Quick Overview

July 14, 2012

Source: parentalalienationsupport.com

Parental alienation is when a child allies himself or herself strongly with one parent (the preferred or favored parent) and rejects a relationship with the other parent (the alienated or rejected parent). 

The rejection does not have legitimate justification.  In other words, if a child rejects a parent because the parent has physically abused the child, this is not parental alienation.  Usually parental alienation occurs when parents are engaged in a high-conflict divorce.  However, “high-conflict” does not always indicate that both parents equally contribute.  Dr. Gardner (2002) noted that target parents are innocent victims.  This does not mean that they do not contribute in some manner, but it suggests that the contribution is unequal.  He pointed out that while rejected parents may have certain qualities that irritated, or temporarily alienated the child, the parent does not deserve the ongoing scorn, rejection, and in some cases to never see the parent again.  The animosity goes far above and beyond what might be expected from minor parental weakness.

Definitions

Estrange implies the development of indiference or hostility with consequent separation or divorcement.

Alienate may or may not suggest separation, but always implies loss of affection or interest.

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Parental Abduction: Thailand Child Abduction Law

July 14, 2012

Source: Thailand Family Law Center

Child abduction or “child kidnapping” cases typically occur during a child custody dispute, when one parent flees a legal jurisdiction with a child to avoid the jurisdiction of a particular court. International law and Thailand family law may come into play when a child is abducted from a foreign country and taken to Thailand or when a child is taken from Thailand to a foreign country, or when a child is abducted by a parent within Thailand.

Q: What should I do if my child is abducted and taken to Thailand?

A: The first thing a parent must do if a child has been abducted is to contact a qualified Thailand family law attorney and make a police report. A qualified attorney will assist with filing the necessary complaints with legal authorities. Based on the circumstances of each case, a family attorney may file a police report with the relevant embassy in Thailand, or file a formal request pursuant to the Hague Treaty. A Thai Family Law Attorney can file a court complaint with the Thailand family court. If criminal charges are involved, a criminal complaint may also be required.

Q: Can the Hague Convention on Child Abduction be used in Thailand?

A: The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction provides a procedure for parents who have had their children abducted by the other parent. The Hague Treaty on Child Abduction is executed through the governments of treaty member countries, but normally requires an attorney to file the appropriate documents with the government authority responsible for the retrieval of the child.

Thailand has formally acceded to the convention; however, at this time the proper procedures for acting upon the convention have not been codified into Thai law. This means that the convention, falls into an ambiguous area of Thailand law. In certain cases of child abduction originating in Thailand, wherein the child has been taken to a different that is a Hague connection signatory, a Hague Convention action may be filed through the relevant government authorities of the country. However, in cases where a child has been abducted and taken to Thailand, the aggrieved parents’ remedy may be through obtaining a court order from the Thai family court. Cases need to be examined individually.

Q: What is the procedure for retrieving a child who has been taken to Thailand?

A: In order to retrieve a child that has been abducted by a parent in Thailand, the parent who is seeking the return of the child must established custody rights of the child in Thailand Family Courts. A court order of sole custody can then be used by the aggrieved parent to obtain the return of the child. Such action can be enforced by Thailand court and police officials. Depending on the circumstances, a police complaint may also be necessary.

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