Due to the adjacent border shared between the United States and Canada, There Are Significant Problems Protecting Children From International Parental Child Abduction.
This past weekend, a widely publicized international parental child abduction case that originated in the United States and ended in Canada exemplified some of the serious challenges parents in both countries face dealing with abduction.
The case of a Longmont, Colorado mother who was assaulted this past Saturday by her separated husband after he broke into her home, where he is alleged to have pepper-sprayed her before using a stun gun on her before he kidnapped their three-year old child to Canada despite an Amber Alert being issued for the abducted child is hopeful that she will be reunited with her son over the coming days. The child's father was arrested in Manitoba, Canada on Sunday, and thankfully, the child has been reported to be doing okay.
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| Brandy Turner Holding Her Son Luke Prior To Abduction |
As the school summer vacation months approach, it is anticipated that the majority of criminal international parental child abductions will take place. How to prevent these kidnappings is at the core of concern for tens of thousands of abduction prevention stakeholders, including targeted parents of abduction, law enforcement, courts of local jurisdiction, and respective government agencies around the world charged with protecting children.
According to the Longmont Daily Times-Call, the defenseless child's mother, Brandy Turner told police she stepped outside her home to smoke a cigarette and saw her husband in the backyard as Luke was having breakfast, Mrs. Turner, who had a restraining order issued against her husband, said she went inside, closed and locked the door, and tried to call 911, but Monty Turner forced his way inside and threw the phone to the floor. During a scuffle, Mr. Turner used pepper spray, shooting it into her face before she felt an electric shock, which she believes to be from a stun gun, she told the newspaper.
After snatching the child, Mr. Turner drove 1,500 kilometers east, leaving Colorado and entering Canada at some point while driving across the northern plains shared between the United States and Canada.
Brandy Turner told The Associated Press on Monday that she had spoken with Luke on the phone and he knows he’s coming home. She said she couldn’t travel to Canada to get him because she has no passport. The child is presently under the supervision of Canada's Child and Family Services.
Failure Of The Amber Alert
The Canadian Border Services Agency is presently investigating how the child was able to enter Canada despite an Amber Alert issuance.
The Canadian Border Services Agency is presently investigating how the child was able to enter Canada despite an Amber Alert issuance.
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| How Monty Ray Turner Entered Canada Despite An Amber Alert Is Unknown At This Time |
The CBSA is reviewing how Turner was able to get into the country with his son after an Amber Alert was issued.
Chris Dzikowicz, the head of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection sai, "The Amber Alert was issued in a state that wasn't a border state. I think the story may have been very different if it had been a border state where they would have been inclined to alert the border immediately," she said.
Longmont Det. Cmdr. Jeff Satur said, "The Amber Alert, when we issued it, initially concentrated on the surrounding states of Colorado, which would have been Nebraska, Utah, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona. And then we also entered an Amber Alert in Missouri because our initial information was that he was heading toward Missouri. We did not have any information that he was heading to Canada. That is something else that we are looking into because the boy's mother was not aware and did not authorize any passports."
According to the CBSA, to legally take a child under 18 across the international border, the parent needs a signed letter from the other parent.
But Dzikowicz said parents sometimes aren't asked to present notarized letters if the border guards don't see anything suspicious.
Chris Dzikowicz, the head of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection sai, "The Amber Alert was issued in a state that wasn't a border state. I think the story may have been very different if it had been a border state where they would have been inclined to alert the border immediately," she said.
Longmont Det. Cmdr. Jeff Satur said, "The Amber Alert, when we issued it, initially concentrated on the surrounding states of Colorado, which would have been Nebraska, Utah, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona. And then we also entered an Amber Alert in Missouri because our initial information was that he was heading toward Missouri. We did not have any information that he was heading to Canada. That is something else that we are looking into because the boy's mother was not aware and did not authorize any passports."
Even without a passport, abducted children have been known to be taken across the Canada–U-S border.
According to the CBSA, to legally take a child under 18 across the international border, the parent needs a signed letter from the other parent.
But Dzikowicz said parents sometimes aren't asked to present notarized letters if the border guards don't see anything suspicious.
In the world of international parental child abduction, an abductor may initially enter into an adjacent country that shares a border with the child's country of habitual residency due to ease of departure, only to use the first landing country as a launching point to disappear with the child to another country and into a sea of seven billion faces. It is presently unknown if Mr. Turner was intending to leave Canada for another country. Nevertheless, one thing appears clear: the abductor seemingly knew where he was going, which means he may have previously canvassed an exit route out of the United States traveling along the remote northern plains that have limited border security.
Targeted parents around the world who have their children abducted often do not reunite with their children. Rarely, are abducting parents prosecuted, as courts often fail to hold accountable an abductor for their act of kidnapping, often wrongfully citing 'best interest of the child'.
However, recently, parental child abductors are starting to be held accountable, which may be one of the reasons why the reported cases of outbound international parental child abduction originating from the United States has declined by 15% over the each of the last two fiscal years (2011 and 2012) after nearly 30 years of continued growth. It should be noted with great exception that Canada has failed to publicly report the number of Canadian children abducted from Canada since 2008.
Targeted parents around the world who have their children abducted often do not reunite with their children. Rarely, are abducting parents prosecuted, as courts often fail to hold accountable an abductor for their act of kidnapping, often wrongfully citing 'best interest of the child'.
However, recently, parental child abductors are starting to be held accountable, which may be one of the reasons why the reported cases of outbound international parental child abduction originating from the United States has declined by 15% over the each of the last two fiscal years (2011 and 2012) after nearly 30 years of continued growth. It should be noted with great exception that Canada has failed to publicly report the number of Canadian children abducted from Canada since 2008.
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| Monty Ray Turner and Luke Turner |
The boy’s grandfather, Ronald Turner, 72, was pulled over in Missouri on Sunday on a warrant for second-degree kidnapping. He was driving a vehicle with a licence plate number listed on an Amber Alert that had been issued after Luke was taken.
A Looming Cloud
As prosecutors in the state of Colorado are working to take custody of Monty Ray Turner, 51, who was being held on numerous charges, including kidnapping, a looming cloud covers Canada, the United States, Mexico, and island-nations located in the Caribbean due to existing international travel document requirements for minors under 16 years old need to cross a border that were established under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). Specifically, a child traveling by land or by sea across adjacent borders who is under 16 years of age does not need to present a passport at the time of deparute. Instead, all that is required is a photocopy of the child's naturalization papers, such as a photo copy of a birth certificate.
As prosecutors in the state of Colorado are working to take custody of Monty Ray Turner, 51, who was being held on numerous charges, including kidnapping, a looming cloud covers Canada, the United States, Mexico, and island-nations located in the Caribbean due to existing international travel document requirements for minors under 16 years old need to cross a border that were established under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). Specifically, a child traveling by land or by sea across adjacent borders who is under 16 years of age does not need to present a passport at the time of deparute. Instead, all that is required is a photocopy of the child's naturalization papers, such as a photo copy of a birth certificate.
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| Peter Thomas Senese's Critically Acclaimed Novel On International Parental Child Abduction CHASING THE CYCLONE |
It should be of great concern that the ability to falsify travel documentation for children is appears to be relatively easy. The capability to easily present travel documentation without another parent's consent or to falsify travel documents for children in cases where a passport is not required appears relatively easy. The fact that simply a birth certificate or worse, a “copy” of a birth certificate and a letter of permission with no documentation to verify its validity, is sufficient to cross international borders is a serious security concern. And although it is is required that a parent or guardian traveling with the child without the other parent possess a letter of consent from the absent parent(s) we must strongly consider that there is no way to verify the validity of a parental consent letter.
Under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, the WHTI was designed to strengthen border security and is a joint Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of State (DOS) plan that is carried out in part by the U.S. Customs Border Protection Agency (CBP). The intent of the initiative is to further protect and strengthen our nation’s borders by requiring all travelers to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda to present a WHTI compliant document that establishes identity and citizenship.
So where do we go from here?
Clearly, the summer seaon is upon us, and with the school summer break now here, this is a time of year when thousands of children living in North America will become crime victims of abduction.
As the Turner case unfolds, we must not only ask ourselves how did Mr. Turner exit the United States despite an Amber Watch, but how did he do this. Furthermore, as the Watkins case resoundly demonstrated, not only should there be a mandatory requirement for all individuals regardless of age and type of travel (land, sea, or air) to present a valid passport at the time of departure. Note how I said 'Valid Passport'?
Clearly, children like Luke Turner and every other child deserve to be safe from kidnapping.
So where do we go from here?
Clearly, the summer seaon is upon us, and with the school summer break now here, this is a time of year when thousands of children living in North America will become crime victims of abduction.
As the Turner case unfolds, we must not only ask ourselves how did Mr. Turner exit the United States despite an Amber Watch, but how did he do this. Furthermore, as the Watkins case resoundly demonstrated, not only should there be a mandatory requirement for all individuals regardless of age and type of travel (land, sea, or air) to present a valid passport at the time of departure. Note how I said 'Valid Passport'?
Clearly, children like Luke Turner and every other child deserve to be safe from kidnapping.
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative
And International Parental Child Abduction
How Are Children Internationally Abducted By Their Parent
Which leads us to the question, "How Are Children Illegally Abducted Into And Out Of The
United States or Canada?"
Security flaws that can lead to our children becoming
victimized include, but are not limited to the following:
1. Failures by
courts and judges to properly assess abduction risk and attach court orders
that would preempt international child stealing; and,
2. Failure to
create or uphold present child abduction prevention laws or other laws created
to protect our children’s safety; and,
3. Identity and
travel documentation fraud; and,
4. A lack of
uniform requirements for travel documentation when departing or entering the
U.S.; and,
5. The ability
under present law to easily illegally transport children under age 16 across
borders during land and sea travel; and,
6. Human error
during verification of travel documents by CBP at a point-of-entry or
departure; and,
7. Failures by law
enforcement to act expeditiously to a potential abduction threat; and,
8. Inefficient
communication and data sharing between government agencies responsible to
assist in preventing or resolving an international child abduction case; and,
9. The deficiency
by our federal government to create and interlink a children's travel alert,
travel restriction data base consisting of real-time family court decisions at
the state level with all U.S. border control agencies and transport companies
similar to capabilities available through the Prevent Departure Program; and,
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| The I CARE Foundation |
For more information about international parental child abduction please visit The I CARE Foundation or Chasing The Cyclone.
For more information about international parental child abduction in Canada, please visit I CHAPEAU.
For more information about international parental child abduction in Canada, please visit I CHAPEAU.
