What is the International Parental Kidnapping Law?
Child custody disputes can cross all boundaries, whether they are city, county, state or national. Child custody cases can become not only international disputes, but can also become a criminal matter, from Amber Alerts to Elián González-style ‘Cause Célebre Internacional’ and the Goldmans and Brazil.
Once a court has made a child custody determination, there are usually two parties, the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent. The custodial parent is the person who has more of the child in their care more than 50% of the time. The non-custodial parent has ‘visitation’ or ‘shared parenting time’ with the child.
Time division and child sharing can be emotionally draining and often lead to disputes and sometimes people take matters into their own hands and keep the child from the other parent or worse yet, fall apart. They move without a court order.
Moving and holding the child can be both a civil problem and a criminal problem. Civil courts can penalize improper retention by changing custody percentages and arrangements.
When custody violations become criminal, it has been a federal issue since 1993 when the United States Congress dealt with international child abductions. Passed the International Parental Kidnapping Act (IPKA), 18 USC §1204. The Act imposes criminal penalties on parents who illegally abduct children.
The IPKA is a criminal law, which is different from the International Child Abduction and Recovery Act (ICARA), which provides civil remedies for a parent whose child custody is being wrongfully interrupted by the other parent.
It is a federal crime for a parent to wrongfully take or retain a child outside of the United States. There are three defenses to the crime 1) The defendant was awarded custody or visitation pursuant to the UCCJEA, 2) The defendant is fleeing domestic violence, and 3) The defendant failed to return a child to the custodial parent due to to circumstances beyond their control. check.
