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Parental Abduction

When Parents Kidnap Their Own

By Carma Haley

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The Effects on the Child
Recent research conducted by NISMART states children endure adverse consequences from being abducted. Besides emotional turmoil, children may suffer from inadequate schooling, poor nutrition, unstable lifestyles and neglect. Some are abandoned, only to be discovered living in foster homes. In the most egregious cases, children suffer long-term harm that may leave them scarred for life. The belief that a child is safe with a parent lessens the chance of aggressive investigation by law enforcement, NISMART states. Yet one study reported 49 percent of abductors have previously established criminal histories and 75 percent of abducting fathers have a history of violent behavior.

After the child is located, researchers suggest that the police encourage both the parent and the child to receive a psychological and physical evaluation.

While Samrodan says parents may feel there is no other alternative, parental kidnapping only adds to the problems. He says parents can often avoid the situation if they are willing to work together and through the courts to find what the best schedule or routine that offers the child time with both parents.

"The system is not perfect and may not always offer the perfect solution the first time around," says Samrodan. "But taking a child away from what they know as home; what they know as friends; and what they know as stability can and will only add to the hurt and trauma of all those involved. There are other ways and there are people to help you find them. Think before you take your child."

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Parental Abduction by ncmec.eu on 11/11/2009 02:51AM

Your readers may be interested to learn that most publicized cases of alleged parental abduction do not end in conviction, at least in part because the charges are often based on one parent's fraudulent statements to prosecutors. In addition, fingerprinting does not help solve child abduction. It only helps to identify dead bodies. It is extremely rare for a child abduction to end in the child's death, especially if the child is taken by a parent. Finally it bears mentioning that many of the children who are advertised by major child welfare organizations as 'missing' are not actually missing. Unfortunately these groups have a self-serving financial interest in inflating their statistics. The location of many of the children we see advertised on posters is actually known. These are cases of missing child fraud, which are cataloged on our website. Thank you. Michael ncmec.eu

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