The Family Abduction Community is applauding the efforts of the United States and Australian Governments as we have just learned that Dorothy Lee Barnett is finally behind bars in the Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Above in the mugshot of Dorothy Lee Barnett in her grey and white jail outfit. That’s the outfit that is worn by captured International Parental Kidnappers.
Here’s what we have learned about Dorothy Lee Barnett’s arrest:
- Dorothy Lee Barnett arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, USA on Friday, September 26, 2014 from Australia. Upon her arrival, she looked around for family or friends and there was no one present at the court house.
- The 54-year old Barnett is being held at the Al Cannon Detention Center in Charleston, SC.
- She is being charged with International Parental Kidnapping and Passport Falsification in United States Federal Court.
- She entered a plea of not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Bristow Marchant.
- Her lawyer is Russell W Mace III has delayed any bond or bail hearing.
Since Dorothy Lee Barnett has a personal lawyer, we do not believe she will claim she is indigent and request representation by a public defender. In many of these cases, a public defender is called in so that defense costs would be paid by the state rather than the accused and the accused family members. It appears that the defense will be wanting to bring in witnesses and expert witnesses from outside the the United States. In most situations, these witnesses have no knowledge of the case. Other than the Passport Forgery, the crime was committed in Charleston, South Carolina and we doubt any of these witnesses have any factual evidence to add to the case. In similar cases, there are usually fund raising drives by supporters of the accused and local non-profit organizations wanting to publicize their cause. We hope that these groups remember that this is a “parental kidnapping” and “passport fraud case”.
DOROTHY LEE BARNETT VIDEO BY ABC NEWS 4 IN CHARLESTON
See the video of Dorothy Lee Barnett by Dean Stephens of ABC News.
WCIV-TV | ABC News 4 – Charleston News, Sports, Weather
FORUMS
The rhetoric has started on some of the news sites by Dorothy Lee Barnett’s supporters.
- Bruce J Michell – He’s been missing in action for a long time. If you read his comments as we’ve seen in other cases, it appears as if Dorothy Lee Barnett and her supporters are expanding their story. In most cases, defense attorneys will tell future witnesses to not talk to the media. However, in the comments section of the ABC News Site, Bruce seems to be providing the federal prosecutor with the entire defense. His recent comments post seems to contain many new allegations.
- Some supporters talk about the father using his wealth and power to track down the parental kidnapper. This particular statement is insensitive to the plight of all searching parents. These supporters don’t seem to understand how parents with kidnapped children will virtually spend all of their life savings to find their children. Tragically, many do not have the funds to search for their child.
- Dorothy Lee Barnett must be found guilty and serve the maximum time in prison to there to be justice in this case. If a parent doesn’t agree with a court order, they should go back to court and keep going back to court. They can’t put themselves about the law and kidnap their child.
- There are some commenters who would like to believe that if the accused were to break the law, kidnap her child, move to another country – she should be innocent. According to the research, the motive in these cases is anger and revenge toward their former spouse and not love or protection of their child.
Dorothy Lee Barnett had so many reasonable legal alternatives before she committed this crime. She’s a parental kidnapper and doesn’t appear to have a track record for accepting custody laws involving young children. If she is given bail and goes on the lam again, that would not surprise us. This is an important case that the Family Abduction Communities will be closely following in the upcoming months.
