http://cbs5.com/investigates/international.child.abductions.2.1680213.htmllink to video:
http://cbs5.com/video/?cid=122California Leads U.S. In Int'l Child AbductionsMay 7, 2010 12:16 am US/Pacific
The recent custody battle that pitted a New Jersey father against the government of Brazil put the focus on a growing problem: International child abduction. And it turns out, this is happening more in California than any other state.
It's something more and more parents here are dealing with: losing their children. And they're not just fighting their ex-spouse in these cases - they're also fighting the cultures and customs in another country.
"I feel very distressed, I feel desperate, I need answers," said Griselda Gonzales. It's been two years since the Southern California mother saw her children, 6 year old Tammy and 4 year old Diego. In 2007 her estranged husband took them away from California, their home, to Mexico.
"I couldn't understand it was a goodbye," she said tearfully, remembering the last time she saw them.
More and more parents here in California are losing their children just that way. Even though taking a child out of the country and denying the other parent's custody rights, is a federal crime.
"The number of cases is up pretty dramatically," said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Michele Bond. The State Department tracks international child abductions. Bond said of 1,650 cases last year, 270 came from California, more than from any other state.
"We have quite a lot of families where the parents are from 2 different countries," Bond said.
What's supposed to help parents of missing children? Something called the Hague Abduction Convention, an international treaty among 69 countries designed to "secure the prompt return of children wrongfully removed."
But the process doesn't always work. Take the case of John Paul of Novato, and his daughter Kathryn. One day in 2008, soon after Kathryn's first birthday, he got a call from his ex-wife. "You'll never see your daughter again, never," Paul recalled. She left California for Peru, and took Kathryn with her.
The State Department tried to pursue his case through the local courts in Peru. Under Hague convention guidelines, since the abduction happened in the U.S., the judge there should have sent his daughter back to California for a decision on who would get custody.
Paul said, "The courts down there favor the mother in a big way." It turns out the Peruvian judge chose to hear the custody case himself.
Something about which the State Department's Bond said, "The job of the court in Peru is to get the child back to the U.S. so the custody decisions can be made."
But that didn't happen - and John Paul's daughter is still in Peru. "I haven't heard anything since December 13th. I am a little concerned with the time that is passing," Paul said.
"In other countries the court systems are a little different, a little harder to get through," said Raul Castellanos, who investigates abduction cases for the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's office. "I think there is a better understanding of the Hague Convention in this country."
That understanding may translate to tougher enforcement on the flip side of the equation: American parents who abduct their kids back to the U.S. from a foreign country. "If they want to take a kid, they are going to take them," he said.
Then it becomes Castellanos' job to tell parents here they have to give their children up. Such as a man who took his daughter from El Salvador to Watsonville. "I followed a paper trail, found him, and luckily the child was there," said Castellanos.
Castellanos said once back in California's courts, "The judge issued orders for the return of the child and within 4 days I was in a plane back to El Salvador with the child."
But even he wrestles with what's best. "You have to wonder you know is the kid better off here," said Castellanos.
But for parents like Griselda Gonzales there's no question. "I miss them very much. I love them, I need them with me."
Gonzales now helps other parents of missing children as a volunteer coordinator for Team Hope, a support group run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
