NCJ Number
137421
Date Published
Unknown
Length
57 pages
Annotation
Like other States, California's criminal code defines parental child stealing as a harm against the other parent and a violation of parental rights; while prosecutors have the authority to compel the return of the offending parent to face criminal charges, they cannot work to locate and recover the abducted child.
Abstract
However, California does give prosecutors that authority under Section 4604 of the State Civil Code that directs prosecutors to enforce custody orders issued by the family courts and to recover parentally abducted children. The statute mandates the State to reimburse county prosecutors for expenses incurred in recovering parentally abducted children. Preliminary research based on interviews with law enforcement officials and prosecuting attorneys in several California counties as well as statistical information collected by various State agencies indicates that the law has been successful in involving prosecutors in locating and recovering parentally abducted children, enforcing custody orders, and prosecuting offending parents. The author argues that the crime of parental abduction should be redefined as child abuse and conceptualized as an offense against the rights and welfare of the abducted child. 11 tables and 10 references