The abduction or kidnapping of a young child (or baby) by an adult has been called child stealing.

Several distinct forms of child stealing exist:

• A stranger removes a child to bring up as their own child.
• One parent removes a child, usually after divorce during an access visit.

While cases have been reported from antiquity, recently this phenomenon has taken on new meaning with various movies and television series (example: Without a Trace) depicting the premise of people who remove children from strangers to bring up as their own often after the death of their own child.

Removal by stranger

This situation is particularly traumatic for the parents, and in the public imagination.

An example of child stealing is the case of Montana Barbaro, stolen in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday 7 August 2004. A male attacker knocked the mother to the ground, and a female removed the baby. They fled in a car. Montana was recovered some 40 hours later, unharmed.

Parental Abduction

Parental Abduction is a growing problem, given that more and more marriages and relationships have an international element.

Parental Child Abduction, in simple terms, is the removal permanent removal of a child from their country of habitual residence (the place where their life is established) by one parent, without the permission of the other parent. Depending on the laws of the country the child has been taken from, this may or may not constitute a criminal offence. From the UK, to remove a child for a period of 28 days or more without the permission of the other parent (or person with parental responsibilty), is a criminal offence.

If the child has been taken to a country that is a signatory to the Hague Convention, and the country that the child has been removed from is also a signatory, this may provide an instant legal remedy through the Courts. One should seek immediate legal advice from a reputable family lawyer who has experience of such issues, and the advice of the appropriate government department (Department of State in the U.S., Department for Constitutional Affairs in the U.K., etc) who can assist with applications under the Hague Convention. If the child has been taken to non-Hague convention country, the situation may be much more problematic to resolve. Immediate legal advice (as above) should be secured in the country the child has been taken from, but more essentially in the country the child has been taken to - the non-abducting parent will need to ask the courts of that country to make orders to send the child back to their home country.

In the UK, advice cam be obtained from http://www.reunite.org

See Also

• Code Adam

External links

• Media report on Montana Barbaro case

• Voice 4 the Children