Kids kidnapped Short Film ? Tips to Prevent Abduction
The children of Dr. James Keene were kidnapped eight years ago, on Feb. 1, 1995. His children - a then ten-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy -- have been concealed, detained, and abused in New Jersey and Puerto Rico by the abductor and her childless sister and brothers. "I cannot describe what it is to come home from work one day and find my beloved children are gone, perhaps forever," Dr. Keene said. Is this just another sad case? Hardly. The abductor is a medical doctor and psychiatrist, who has a history of mental and emotional illnesses growing worse over several decades. 2. Two Kilos of Cocaine More Important Than a Child The children, Grace and James Keene, have since been repeatedly hidden in New Jersey and Puerto Rico. The police in New Jersey and Puerto Rico, the FBI in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Departments of Justice and State in Washington, DC, and the U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico have all been petitioned for help, all to no avail. An Assistant U.S. District Attorney told Dr. Keene that nothing could be done because their order from the Department of Justice was, "It must be over four kilos of cocaine." "By my math," Dr. Keene said, "each child is worth less than two kilos of cocaine." It does not seem to matter that Dr. Keene, the father, is a U.S. citizen and had sole and full custody of the children prior to the abduction. 3. Don't Worry That Police Will Obey the Law Themselves In July, 1995, Dr. Keene filed missing persons reports for each "abducted child for investigation and entry into the NCIC computer." The police in Willingboro, New Jersey, refused in writing to investigate. The police in San Juan, Puerto Rico, ignored the reports and told Dr. Keene they were "filed." Welcome to the federal law -- the National Child Search Assistance Act -- which requires police to investigate immediately reports of missing children. "The police have clearly violated the law," Dr. Keene said, and perhaps should be sued. 4. Don't Worry About the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act "Amazingly," Dr. Keene said, "authorities have yet to act to recover my children. Meanwhile, my children are in peril. Among other things, the abductor is suicidal with a history of psychiatric care. My grief, hopelessness and despair is not less because the abductor is the biological mother of the children." Welcome to the federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, a law which seems to be ignored in this case. Dr. Keene was Professor of Neuroscience at Ross University School of Medicine on the Caribbean island nation of Dominica, from which his children were initially abducted. "Dominica is more civilized than the United States, because authorities there quickly responded to this cruel and heartless crime," he said. 5. Ignore Court Orders to Appear With the Children On June 28, 1995, following the advice of the FBI, Dr. Keene petitioned the High Court of Justice, Commonwealth of Dominica. This court issued Court Order 45, 1995, No. 240, a Writ of Habeas Corpus Ad Subjiciendum, directing Nilda Keene, the abductor, to produce the abducted children to the High Court on July 26, 1995, along with the "cause of their being taken and detained." On July 26, 1995, failing to respond to this Court Order -- the Writ of Habeas Corpus and Notice, served to her in both New Jersey and Puerto Rico, Nilda Keene did not appear with the children at the High Court. As a result, the High Court ordered a warrant to be issued for her arrest. Instead of appearing in this "home state" court, on that same day, the abductor filed an outrageous lawsuit in the local court (Tribunal Superior) in Guayama, Puerto Rico, the jurisdiction to which the children were initially abducted! "In February, 1996, the abductor dropped this case when it was apparent she had presented a number of falsehoods to the local court," Dr. Keene said. "It was absurd. In essence, the kidnapper was asking the court to approve of her kidnapping." 6. Serial Child Abduction Can Be a Useful Tool The children were also abducted from Puerto Rico to New Jersey and later from New Jersey to Puerto Rico. "Call it serial abduction," Dr. Keene added. As stated above, the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act can be safely ignored. "For seven years, the abductors have successfully evaded the law," he said. "They have stolen from me and my two children something they never can return -- my raising of my children and their home and parent."