Federal court documents filed on July 26th indicate that a Chinese man is suspected of kidnapping his three young children from Lexington, Kentucky, and departing the country in violation of their custody agreement. He flew with the children to Mexico and Cuba before being apprehended in Panama as he was about to board another flight.
The Lexington Times reported that FBI documents filed in Lexington County Court indicate that Hao Qiu faces federal charges of international parental kidnapping. If convicted, he could face up to three years in federal prison under the International Parental Kidnapping Act.
Court records indicate that the children’s mother suspected Qiu might kidnap the children during their planned trip to Disneyland in Orlando, Florida, and notified the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) International Anti-Abduction Program.
FBI Agent Isaac Robison said Qiu allegedly took the children’s cell phones and tracking devices to prevent their mother from tracking their location.
The report stated that after departing from Florida, Qiu Hao used the Chinese passports he had applied for for his children to fly from Mexico City to Havana, Cuba, and finally to Panama.
Qiu Hao was detained in Panama while attempting to board a flight with his three children, all under the age of 10. According to testimony, Qiu Hao had originally planned to fly from Panama to Turkey, but Panamanian authorities arrested him.
Authorities have not released their identities to protect the children’s privacy.
Qiu Hao had previously been allowed to visit his children in Fayette County, Kentucky, under strict restrictions, including having to hand over their passports to their mother.
A court ruling explicitly prohibited Qiu Hao from meeting the children outside of Fayette County, but he still arranged a theme park trip. The children’s mother, already fearing they had been kidnapped, only allowed Qiu Hao to drive to Florida and explicitly prohibited him from flying.
After receiving a notification from the children’s mother through U.S. Customs, Panamanian authorities detained Qiu Hao and recovered the children.
Panamanian officials said that under the circumstances, Qiu Hao could only be detained for 24 hours and that the U.S. authorities needed to intervene quickly to coordinate; after the authorities intervened on July 29, the children’s mother successfully filed an emergency motion with the court, temporarily obtaining sole custody of her three children.
