Sandra Rucki Trial to Begin July 18th
In a Teenage Family Abduction Trial, Sandra Rucki has been charged in Dakota County with eight felonies in the kidnapping of her two teenage daughters. Dede Evavold, Gina Dahlen and Doug Dahlen have also been charged as co-conspirators. The Jury Trial for Sandra Rucki is scheduled to begin on Monday, July 18, 2016.
As we approach this trial date, the Family Abduction Community of Victim Parents including both Recovering Parents and Searching Parents are closely following this case. This is one of the first cases in America where the District Attorney is also prosecuting the co-conspirators. In most International and Domestic Family Abduction Cases, the co-conspirators reside outside the jurisdiction. But in the Rucki Teenager Family Abduction, the girls were found in a nearby county in Herman, Minnesota.
The results of this case are important not only in deterring the crime of Teenager Family Abduction but sending the message to the Protective Parent and Family Court Critic Network cause that there will be severe penalties for those that engage in civil disobedience. After 9-11, when it became more difficult for protective parents to obtain a falsified United States Passport, it was thought that this cause had ended. But in recent years, there has been an emergence of a small new movement of Family Court Critics/Protective Parents that are questioning the fitness of our Nation’s Family Court. They are attacking the Family Court Judges and the fathers in these cases on the Internet and in Social Media to support their cause. For many of these critics, it is the same supporters that are against “joint custody” and “coparenting” and want the courts to bring back “maternal custody”.
In these cases, a defendant like Sandra Rucki is committed to the protective parent cause and wants a trial to promote herself and cause. Her supporters want the trial. But the co-conspirators like Gina Dahlen and Doug Dahlen may simply want to go on with their lives and may regret getting involved. On the other hand, they should have understood the severity of the crime of child kidnapping. A Family Abduction in the eyes of the searching parent is no different than a Stranger Abduction. Many of us feel that not allowing them any type of immunity and sending them to prison for some period may do more to deterring this crime. And for Sandra Rucki and her co-conspirator Dede Evavold, it is important that they receive long prison sentences for their crime.
As we get closer to a trial date, it’s likely that the District Attorney may want to save the county taxpayer’s the costs of these trials. The co-conspirators like the Dahlens will be doing everything they can to stay out of prison and the Felony Conviction. And Sandra Rucki may have an enlightened moment that when convicted, she might receive one of the longest prison sentences ever — and finally arrive at the decision it would be in the best interests of her children that she plead guilty.
