NCJ Number
80631
Journal
Current Issue: 194 Dated: (July/August 1977) Pages: 40-44
Date Published
1977
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article examines legislation designed to counter 'child stealing,' in which one parent kidnaps a child from the other parent in a divorce context.
Abstract
Child stealing is often done before custody proceedings, either in the belief that custody judgments favor the parent with whom the child is living at the time of the proceedings or because a favorable custody judgment is believed more likely in another State. Child stealing after custody proceedings usually involves taking the child to a State other than the one where the original custody order was issued in the hope of securing a favorable custody order in each State. It is not a Federal crime to steal one's own children, even if the other parent holds legal custody; however, because child stealing is a crime in each State, the FBI can intervene once the State issues a fugitive felony warrant. The FBI, however, has been reluctant to intervene, arguing that child stealing is a domestic matter. Currently, the most popular approach to combating child stealing is the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA), proposed by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. In theory, the UCCJA calls for States to honor one another's custody decrees, with a few exceptions. Criticisms of the act are that it applies only after custody has been awarded, and it does not provide for finding and returning the absconding parent and child if they do not appear in court for custody proceedings. Legislation proposed at the Federal level has received little interest from legislators and lacks support from the Justice Department.