Snatched girl is with father in the US

The seven-year-old girl snatched from outside her primary school earlier this week, prompting a nationwide police alert, is in the US with her father in Pennsylvania, the Telegraaf reports on Friday.


The father told local newspaper Ede Stad he had been granted full custody of the girl but had not told the mother because he feared she might take their daughter back to Ukraine.
‘Then I would never have seen her again,’ the Telegraaf quoted him as saying. ‘I have been involved in a six-year battle. She has tried to stop me contacting my daughter. Now I have been given sole custody and I immediately picked her up at her school.’
American citizenship
The Telegraaf said later on Friday that Katja was born in the US but has lived in the Netherlands with her mother since 2003. Her parents separated shortly after her birth.
An American court gave full custody to her father but the custody issue is also under legal consideration in the Netherlands.
There is no extradition treaty between the Netherlands and US in child custody cases, the paper says.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation