Saturday, October 18, 2008

Kidnap Suspect Cleared

Rhonda Tavey befriended a family after the Alphonse family relocated to Houston from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Rhonda Tavey was accused of fleeing with the Alphonse children, ages 3 to 8, on July 11. She claimed their mother was abusing them. An Amber Alert was issued for the children and Tavey was arrested the next day. The children were found unharmed.

Tavey was charged with five counts of kidnapping but has since been cleared of charges that she kidnapped five children she cared for since Hurricane Katrina.

Tavey claimed their parents have a history of drug abuse and a pattern of physically abusing and neglecting the children.

Tavey filed a petition asking to be appointed the children's sole conservator. She contended that she should get custody because the children have lived with her for most of the last year.

Source:
Woman Cleared Of 5 Kidnapping Charges

A Harris County grand jury declined to indict Tavey on five charges of kidnapping, finding there was not enough evidence to support her prosecution.

Tavey claimed the siblings would be in danger if allowed to return to New Orleans with their mother. But Child Protective Services found no evidence to support her charges of abuse and neglect. The agency returned the children to Alphonse.

Tavey has since dismissed a court petition seeking custody of the children, but expressed disappointment in the CPS decision.

Full Article and Source:
Woman who took Katrina evacuee's kids no-billed

See also:
Kidnap Suspect Files For Custody Of Children

Woman Accused Of Abducting 5 Released

Mother, Children Reunited After Kidnapping Suspects Arrest

No kidnapping charges for Houston woman

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure who is in the right here and who was wrong.

The parents could have drug problems, etc. Or the lady could have outright kidnapped the kids.

I tend to think that since she was taking care of them after Katrina, that means she's probably ok.

Hopefully, somebody asked the kids and paid attention to what they said!

Anonymous said...

They drop charges on this woman who outright took the kids, and took them without having legal authority to do so. Meanwhile, others have been charged with kidnapping their own parents such as in the case of Emma France.

Our system is screwed up!