I don't want wife arrested US man alleges: S'PORE WIFE STOLE MY KIDS
HE'S American, she's Singaporean, and when their marriage turned sour, they fought a two-year battle for custody of their two children.
Photo illustration based on family picture of dad and his children.
A Californian court granted the estranged but yet-to-be-divorced couple joint custody of the son, now 7, and daughter, now 3.
But this custody battle has now escalated into a cross-border tussle, involving both the US and Singapore authorities.
The mother is wanted in the US for taking the children out of California and away from the husband, thereby infringing the court ruling.
And the husband wants to take his fight to Singapore where his wife and children are now living with his in-laws.
FIGHT ONLINE
Not only does it span two continents, it has also invaded the borderless arena of the Internet and spawned hundreds of e-mails by the father to various churches, church members and school principals here.
The children are on the US Department of Justice 'missing' children's list, and their photos are also posted on the website of the non-profit organisation National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.
Their posters list their case type as 'family abduction'.
The 43-year-old father has also set up a website, with their photos, dedicated to his cause.
The site's popularity varies from month-to-month. So far this month, he has got over 100 hits. But in some months, it gets few visitors, he said.
We are not naming the family members to protect the children in accordance with Singapore law.
In an e-mail response to The New Paper, the husband, a doctorate holder and a professional in California, said he met his Singaporean wife, now 33, while they were in the University of Washington in 1993.
He was in graduate school while she was taking summer classes. They kept in touch but did not date.
In June 1999, they got married after a short courtship.
In April 2005, they separated and battled it out in court for custody of the children.
In January this year, the children were staying with his wife when she left the US with them.
He said he received an e-mail from her on 15 Jan, just two days before the children were due to stay with him, saying that she and the kids were in Singapore.
By doing so, she had violated a Californian court order that they not leave its jurisdiction.
He said he immediately reported the matter to the US police.
The following month, the Californian court gave him temporary full custody of the children and the wife visitation rights.
On 20 Feb, the San Mateo County District Attorney Office issued a warrant of arrest for his wife, he said.
A warrant of arrest is needed for the missing children and mother to be listed on the NCMEC website.
If the wife is charged and convicted of child abduction, she could be fined up to US$1,000 ($1,500) or jailed up to a year in a county jail in accordance with Californian law.
It is understood, however, that prosecution for such parental abduction cases are not common in the US. On the arrest warrant, the husband said in a phone interview: 'I don't want my wife arrested. I just want my kids back.'
He said: 'I spent two years of my life and $170,000 to retain joint custody of my children, and the court (in California) agreed with me.'
Now, he said, he will have to continue his fight for his kids in Singapore.
In his e-mail to various churches here - whose addresses he had gleaned at random through the Internet - early last week, the husband said his wife had abducted their children from California, apparently with the help of her parents.
He asked for help in finding them.
He called for those who know them to persuade them to do the right thing by returning the children to him.
He said: 'My children and I have lived our entire lives in California. I love my children very much and want them back.'
When The New Paper visited his wife's parents in their semi-detached house, her mother was clearly agitated by what has been happening.
Speaking to us at the front gate, she gave her take on the events, but declined to be quoted.
However, she showed proof - in the form of a parcel that the husband had sent to his children at their address which arrived that day - that he knew where his kids were.
Holding it up, she claimed that it was the third parcel he had sent to them and that he had also been in touch with them over the phone.
'NO ONE ANSWERED DOOR'
The children could be seen looking out from the front door of the house.
When asked about his mother-in-law's comments, the husband said he did not know where his children were at first.
He claimed that early this year, a US embassy officer had gone to his in-laws' house but no one answered the door, and his calls to their house also went unanswered.
But he confirmed that about a month ago, he spoke to his children via Skype, though he did not want to say whether or not he knew for a fact where they are.
He added: 'I know that they are in Singapore and I know that I have been able to send small gifts to them at their grandparents' house.'
When asked why he had yet to come to Singapore, he replied: 'My only thoughts are about going to Singapore and bringing my children back home to California.
'Unfortunately, my government will not re-issue their passports unless the Singapore Family Court orders them returned to my care.'
He has since approached the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) for help.
The MFA confirmed that they have received a call from him and have referred the case to the police.
Responding to The New Paper's queries, a police spokesman said: 'The police have received information about this case from the MFA and are looking into the matter.'
source:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/st...41582,00.html? 
I JUST WANT MY KIDS BACK 
Linear Mode
