Friday, January 30, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Baltimore Sun - January 23, 2009
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-kidnap0123,0,5955584.story
Md. woman indicted on parental kidnapping charges
The Associated Press
6:36 PM EST, January 23, 2009
A Maryland woman accusing of fleeing 10 years ago with her son to Mexico after a custody dispute was has been indicted on an international parental kidnapping charge, according to court documents.
Tamara Kennedy was indicted Thursday on the single federal count returned in U.S. District Court.
Kennedy, a U.S. citizen, and her now 14-year-old son, Joseph Anthony Kennedy, vanished from the United States in 1998. In 1999, the Washington County Circuit Court gave sole custody of Joseph to his father, Donald Wiswell.
Kennedy was found Dec. 24 while trying to renew passports for herself and her son at the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara. Kennedy was turned over to Mexican immigration officials for being in the country illegally. Mexican immigration officials turned Kennedy and her son over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Baltimore, said Friday that Tamara Kennedy was in federal custody, but was not being held in Maryland. She did not know if Kennedy has a lawyer.
Murphy also said because both Donald Wiswell and Joseph Kennedy are considered to be victims, no further information will be released about them.
According to a 1997 criminal complaint, Tamara Kennedy claimed abuse was being committed by Wiswell's wife and asked for suspension of visitation rights for Wiswell. In May 1998, a judge ruled that Kennedy's claims were not credible and reinstated visitation rights to Wiswell.
Kennedy failed to appear in court for a custody hearing in September 1998. In 2005, Maryland State police began an investigation into the alleged abduction.
Several months ago, authorities found out the two were in Mexico, Det. Hoover said. He would not elaborate about how authorities learned the Kennedys were in Mexico.
Maryland State Police have been involved in the case for some time, and several months ago obtained a federal warrant naming Tamara Kaye Kennedy as wanted on a kidnapping charge, Hoover said.
Sgt. Ron Riggin, Maryland State Police, who had been working on the case was not available Friday.
At the time of the disappearance, Wiswell and Tamara Kennedy were involved in a custody dispute.
Washington County Circuit Court was closed Friday, but online records indicate that Tamara Kennedy was found to be in contempt of court on Jan. 20, 1999, because she failed to respond to notices from the court. A Washington County Circuit judge on Jan. 21, 1999, issued a bench warrant for her.
The records also show that several notices of a 1999 hearing date that the court sent to Tamara Kennedy were returned by the post office.
A July 30, 1999, entry and another on Sept. 15, 1999, in the custody cases online record show that Washington County Circuit Judge W. Kennedy Boone III awarded legal custody and sole physical custody of Joseph Kennedy to Wiswell. The online record goes on to say that because Tamara Kennedy represents a risk of flight with the child, the child be returned to his father, visitation with his mother shall only be permitted with appropriate limitations after consideration by a hearing to be scheduled before this Court.
Md. woman indicted on parental kidnapping charges
The Associated Press
6:36 PM EST, January 23, 2009
A Maryland woman accusing of fleeing 10 years ago with her son to Mexico after a custody dispute was has been indicted on an international parental kidnapping charge, according to court documents.
Tamara Kennedy was indicted Thursday on the single federal count returned in U.S. District Court.
Kennedy, a U.S. citizen, and her now 14-year-old son, Joseph Anthony Kennedy, vanished from the United States in 1998. In 1999, the Washington County Circuit Court gave sole custody of Joseph to his father, Donald Wiswell.
Kennedy was found Dec. 24 while trying to renew passports for herself and her son at the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara. Kennedy was turned over to Mexican immigration officials for being in the country illegally. Mexican immigration officials turned Kennedy and her son over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Baltimore, said Friday that Tamara Kennedy was in federal custody, but was not being held in Maryland. She did not know if Kennedy has a lawyer.
Murphy also said because both Donald Wiswell and Joseph Kennedy are considered to be victims, no further information will be released about them.
According to a 1997 criminal complaint, Tamara Kennedy claimed abuse was being committed by Wiswell's wife and asked for suspension of visitation rights for Wiswell. In May 1998, a judge ruled that Kennedy's claims were not credible and reinstated visitation rights to Wiswell.
Kennedy failed to appear in court for a custody hearing in September 1998. In 2005, Maryland State police began an investigation into the alleged abduction.
Several months ago, authorities found out the two were in Mexico, Det. Hoover said. He would not elaborate about how authorities learned the Kennedys were in Mexico.
Maryland State Police have been involved in the case for some time, and several months ago obtained a federal warrant naming Tamara Kaye Kennedy as wanted on a kidnapping charge, Hoover said.
Sgt. Ron Riggin, Maryland State Police, who had been working on the case was not available Friday.
At the time of the disappearance, Wiswell and Tamara Kennedy were involved in a custody dispute.
Washington County Circuit Court was closed Friday, but online records indicate that Tamara Kennedy was found to be in contempt of court on Jan. 20, 1999, because she failed to respond to notices from the court. A Washington County Circuit judge on Jan. 21, 1999, issued a bench warrant for her.
The records also show that several notices of a 1999 hearing date that the court sent to Tamara Kennedy were returned by the post office.
A July 30, 1999, entry and another on Sept. 15, 1999, in the custody cases online record show that Washington County Circuit Judge W. Kennedy Boone III awarded legal custody and sole physical custody of Joseph Kennedy to Wiswell. The online record goes on to say that because Tamara Kennedy represents a risk of flight with the child, the child be returned to his father, visitation with his mother shall only be permitted with appropriate limitations after consideration by a hearing to be scheduled before this Court.
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