MIGUEL ANTONIO MORIN - 8 months - (2004) / Arrested: Krystle Tanner Houston TX

Texas woman arrested in alleged kidnapping of boy in 2004

updated 6:32 PM EDT, Wed March 14, 2012




Krystle Tanner of San Augustine, Texas, is charged with kidnapping a baby more than seven years ago.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Houston police are looking at why an Amber Alert was never issued in 2004 case
  
• Krystle Tanner of San Augustine, Texas, is in custody in the alleged kidnapping
  
• She was the boy's godmother, the mother tells CNN
  
• The boy, now 8, was 8 months old when he and Tanner went missing in 2004, mom says
  

(CNN) -- A Texas woman has been arrested as a
suspect in an alleged kidnapping of a boy eight years ago, the San
Augustine County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday.

The woman, Krystle Tanner
of San Augustine, was the godmother of Miguel Antonio Morin, who was 8
months old when he and Tanner went missing, the boy's mother, Auboni
Champion-Morin, told CNN Wednesday. Tanner, also a neighbor, had been
babysitting the boy in her Houston home, she said.

San Augustine is about 165 miles northeast of Houston.

The boy, now 8, was in
good physical condition Monday and was in the custody of Texas Child
Protective Services, said sheriff's Chief Deputy Gary Cunningham.

The mother filed a police
report in 2004, but Houston police closed the case two years later
after prosecutors asked for clarification of the date the boy
disappeared and Houston police were "unable to clarify that
information," Cunningham said.

Tanner was arrested
Monday in connection with the boy's kidnapping after Child Protective
Services began investigating her in August on allegations of negligently
supervising her children and an unknown 8-year-old child who had been
physically abused, Cunningham said.

In an interview
Wednesday, Champion-Morin expressed joy and disbelief that Miguel, the
youngest of her five children at the time of his disappearance, had been
finally found.

Authorities did not give details about who was taking care of the boy when he was found.

When Champion-Morin
received a phone call Monday from the child welfare agency, "I kind of
had to look at the phone -- was this real?" said the mother, who had a
sixth child after her son's disappearance.

She wondered if authorities' call was a cruel joke, she said.

She was asked about the disappearance of her son and his connection to Tanner, she said.

"At first, it kind of scared me," she said.

She was thinking about her son in recent days because his birthday was March 1.

The child protection
agency told Champion-Morin that Tanner had been arrested in east Texas,
but that her son was not with Tanner at the time, the mother said.

Champion-Morin will undergo a blood test possibly this week to prove she is the biological mother, she said.

On the night that her
son and Tanner disappeared, Champion-Morin said she had asked Tanner to
watch her son overnight. At the time, the mother had five children, all
under age 4, and Miguel was the youngest.

"I was having hardship
at the time," the mother said. "I asked her to watch him overnight, and
when I came back ... they were gone."

Tanner and the mother
lived in the same apartment building, and Tanner wanted the boy to stay
in her apartment and the other kids to stay at another friend's
apartment, the mother said.

Tanner was a high school
student at the time and had to attend classes the next morning, but
when Champion-Morin went to pick up her son that morning, he and Tanner
were gone, Champion-Morin said.

Tanner's mother said the two had left the state, Champion-Morin said.

She called police, she said.

The mother knew Tanner and her family well, and they spent a lot of time together, she said.

"At that time, I trusted her, I knew her," Champion-Morin said.

Police asked her to take
a polygraph and she agreed, but because she was pregnant at the time
police told her she could not take it then, Champion-Morin said.

She never knew police had closed the case back in 2006, and she assumed all along they were still working on it, she said.

She called Houston
Police several times to check on the case over the years and was always
told she had a new police contact and the case had been assigned to
someone else, the mother said.

She found the experience frustrating and had not called back in a while, she said.

Still, she thought often of her son, she said.

"I always wondered every night. I dreamed and prayed on it," she said.

She explained Miguel's disappearance to his siblings "the best I could," she said.

"They still somewhat don't understand the situation, why (someone) would do that," Champion-Morin said.

Her children now "are trying to make sure I stay calm" and are "praying with me," the mom said.

Miguel could be returned to her "by the end of the week," she said.

"I'm going to let him
know I love him with all my heart ... and any questions he has, I will
answer them," Champion-Morin said. "It will be hard."

"We will probably have
to go to a psychiatrist together," she said, adding it will also be
opportunity to work out their relationship and get to know one another.

When asked how she felt
about how Houston police handled the case, she said, "It took years to
get some sort of progress. This took years ... a lot of running around
and nobody helping me."

The boy was reported
missing in November 2004, and after an investigation, Houston police
presented the case to the Harris County district attorney's office for
review in February 2005, Cunningham said.

The prosecutor accepted
the case, but a warrant was never issued because the prosecutor's office
apparently asked for clarification of the precise date when the boy was
taken, Cunningham said.

Houston police was unable to clarify that information, and the case was closed in 2006, Cunningham said.

An Amber Alert was never
issued for the boy because the Houston Regional Amber Alert Plan was
never notified, said coordinator Beth Alberts.

Houston Police
Department investigators are now looking into the case, including why an
Amber Alert was never requested, spokesman Kese Smith said Wednesday.

In August 2011, the
state child welfare agency received a report against Tanner about
alleged negligence of her children, Cunningham said. An 8-year-old boy
was reportedly "hit on," Cunningham said.

The report didn't
suggest the alleged negligence was egregious, but the child welfare
authority initiated an investigation and attempted to identify the
8-year-old child in the report, Cunningham said.

Tanner allegedly gave
the child welfare agency's investigators contradictory information about
the 8-year-old boy, saying the child was hers and then wasn't hers,
that the child belonged to her brother or someone else, Cunningham said.

The state agency then
called the sheriff's office, which eventually opened a criminal
investigation in January after authorities couldn't find the child,
Cunningham said.

Tanner again allegedly provided misleading information to the sheriff's investigators, Cunningham said.

The child welfare agency
then provided sheriff's investigators with a possible identity of the
missing child, and San Augustine County prosecutors secured a warrant
for Tanner, Cunningham said.

"We interviewed her
again (Wednesday) and she provided additional information," Cunningham
said. "She admitted that she provided misleading information, which
certainly supports our belief that she kidnapped the child."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/14/justice/texas-kidnapping/?hpt=us_c2

So glad you posted this article! I was reading about this on our local 45 news ( http://www.foxbaltimore.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wbff_vid_12660.shtml ) and they have a picture of the baby and then a whopping paragraph about him being found. It is so inexcusable (imho) the way so many news stories are 'written'; apparently the editors forgot the basic "who, what, when, where, why and how". Thank you twinkletoes.

Thanks Ladibug.

I am appalled by how so many of these cases are treated by LE and DCF.

Even though this poor child was mistreated by his kidnapper it will be so traumatic on him to learn the facts and try to adjust to a new family, a new mother.

So many, many people just don't consider babies real human beings.

These things defy belief.

Below is another case that I've been watching. It's graphic but finally something is being done.

http://www.justice4caylee.org/t12338-canada-victoria-stafford-8-woodstock-on

Child-welfare officials say a boy who was
allegedly kidnapped by his babysitter eight years ago is healthy
physically and emotionally.

Miguel Morin is in foster care in Texas after police arrested a family friend accused of running off with the boy back in late 2004.

Lisa Rose, an investigator for child-protective services, testified Thursday that the boy is a normal height and weight and that he's well-mannered. But he cannot read or name the school he attends.

Miguel's parents agreed to provide DNA to confirm that the boy is theirs. It's not clear when the three might be reunited

Thursday, March 15 2012, 05:19 PM EDT

Ladibug, I posted the article you referenced. Thank you for this.

It answered my question of how she got him into school without a birth certificate. Apparently he didn't attend school.

Thank God he is still young enough that he can start school and catch up and, I hope soon be in with his age group.

This will affect this boy for the rest of his life.

Why don't people understand that how a child is treated has an everlasting affect on the adult he or she becomes?

A Houston couple whose infant disappeared in 2004 learned Wednesday
that an 8-year-old living in East Texas is their child, but the
revelation was clouded by allegations the couple may have given away the
boy along with their other four children.

Fernando Morin and his wife, Auboni Champion-Morin,
declined to answer questions about their four children who apparently
have not lived with the couple for years. They said they are focusing on
custody of Miguel Morin, who was allegedly kidnapped by his godmother
and former baby sitter, Krystle Tanner.

"Right now, I'm trying to do whatever I've got to do for the court so
I can see my son," Champion-Morin said after a brief hearing on
Wednesday in which a judge heard that her husband's DNA test proves he
is the boy's father.

Champion-Morin's DNA test was not announced but is expected to be
ready Thursday. However, attorneys and investigators said in court they
have little doubt she is the boy's mother.
Instead, case workers and a county psychologist wanted to discuss the
quality of his birth parents' care and how the child will react to
learning he has an entire family he has never met.

The boy, confirmed to be Miguel Morin, believes he is a 6-year-old
named Jaquan. He has not been told why he is in foster care, except that
the woman he believes is his mother is in jail.

"His world could be turned upside," psychologist George Cleveland told the judge.

Schneider ruled that there would be another status hearing before the boy's parents are allowed to visit him.

During the hearing, there was a brief discussion that a different
Houston family has come forward to say they are raising the couple's
four other children and have for eight years.

Schneider cut off the discussion and said family members and
investigators will be able to testify during a full custody hearing
next week.

Estella Olguin, a spokeswoman with Child Protective Services,
confirmed that the agency also is looking in to allegations that the
couple "gave away" their children but declined to discuss the facts
until they come out in court.

The allegations coincide with court records that show police had
questions about the boy's 2004 disappearance, eventually closing the
investigation 18 months later.

"Numerous family members and neighbors reported that she has given
her children away," according to an affidavit explaining why the
kidnapping case was closed April 6, 2006. Instead of pursuing it as an
abduction, police told the couple to try to get their child back through
a lawsuit.

There were no developments in the case until CPS investigators in East Texas began investigating Tanner months ago.

The former baby sitter was arrested March 12 in San Augustine County,
accused of kidnapping the boy. The child was turned over to authorities
a day later by one of Tanner's relatives.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Missing-boy-is-identified-as-parents-come-under-3423859.php

Wow, what a twist.

Texas authorities arrested and charged a second woman with kidnapping
Friday in the widening case of a Houston boy who disappeared eight
years ago and was found earlier this month.
Gloria Jean Walker, 50, was arrested at her home in Manor, east of Austin.

Walker is the mother of Krystle
Tanner, who was arrested two weeks ago in San Augustine in East Texas
and also charged with the kidnapping of Miguel Morin when he was 8
months old, San Augustine County Chief Sheriff's Deputy Gary Cunningham
told The Associated Press.

Cunningham said the
arrest warrant was based on information obtained from Tanner,
investigations by child welfare officials and evaluation of the original
2004 disappearance case handled by Houston police.

"We're still looking for any
definitive information concerning how Krystle Tanner and her mother,
Gloria Walker, came into actual custody of the child," Cunningham told
the AP. He said other people also may be sought in the case.

Cunningham said Walker was taken into
custody Friday morning and transported to the Travis County Jail for
arraignment. He said she was being held under $250,000 bond and would be
moved to San Augustine, where her daughter is being held. She has not
given a statement, Cunningham said.

Five children between the ages of 11
months and 16 years were in Walker's home and have been placed in the
emergency custody of child welfare authorities, said Julie Moody, a
spokeswoman for Child Protective Services in Travis County. She
identified two of the children as Walker's and believed the other three
were grandchildren.

Cunningham said Walker previously
lived in Houston and moved to Travis County at some point. He did not
believe she had lived with Tanner in San Augustine and found no evidence
of a criminal record.

Walker was questioned by Houston
police during the original 2004 investigation. She was told her daughter
was a primary suspect in the disappearance and Walker "denied having
any information concerning the whereabouts of Miguel Morin."

Estella Olguin, a spokeswoman for
Child Protective Services in Houston, said Friday officials believed
Miguel, now 8, may have spent some time with Walker at her home.

"I think he considers her his grandmother," she said.

Child welfare officials also have said the boy identified Tanner as his mother when shown a picture of her.

Tanner was arrested March 12. After
seeing reports of Tanner's arrest, her sister called police the next day
and offered to turn over the child she believed was Tanner's stepson.

The boy has been placed in a foster
home. His parents in Houston are seeking to regain custody while
authorities are investigating both this case and disclosures that the
couple gave up guardianship of their four other children. A custody
hearing is set for next week in Houston.

DNA tests have confirmed Fernando
Morin is Miguel's father. Similar tests on Auboni Champion-Morin, who
says she is his birth mother, haven't been disclosed. The judge
overseeing the custody case ordered the couple have a psychological
examination before ruling on their request to at least meet Miguel in a
supervised setting without specifically saying who they are.

The child -- who knew his name as Jaquan -- began therapy on Thursday, Olguin said.

"I just feel so sorry for this
8-year-old child," Cunningham said. "He was moved around, didn't even
know his real name, how old he was, when his birthday was. Your heart's
got to go out to him."

Officials described Morin and his wife
as uncooperative in the days following their 2004 report that Miguel
was missing. They have denied the allegation.

"We have always been aware of that big
question about their credibility and the circumstances which the child
was reported abducted," Cunningham said Friday.

Champion-Morin has said Tanner was a
friend who lived in the same Houston apartment complex eight years ago.
She was Miguel's godmother, but disappeared when the child was reported
missing in 2004.

The case resurfaced last summer when
Tanner took the boy to a San Augustine hospital for a leg injury. She
could not provide his name or Social Security number, raising doubts
among the hospital staff, who contacted child welfare investigators.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/apnewsbreak-new-arrest-in-texas-missing-boy-case-1.3619814

A Houston boy who disappeared eight years ago and was
found earlier this month could soon be reunited with his parents, or he
might remain in foster care.A Texas judge is expected to make a decision Wednesday on the fate of 8-year-old Miguel Morin after a court hearing.
The
boy has been in foster care since being found after police arrested a
family friend. Police say the friend, who is the boy's godmother, took
him in late 2004 when he was 8 months old and had him living with her in
the East Texas town of San Augustine.
At the hearing, child
welfare officials are to discuss whether Miguel should remain in foster
care or begin to have visits with the parents, said Estella Olguin, a
spokeswoman for Child Protective Services in Houston. Auboni
Champion-Morin and Fernando Morin, both 29 of Houston, are seeking to
regain custody.

A psychotherapist who has been meeting with Miguel
also could testify about how the boy might react once informed about
his situation.
Olguin said CPS has made a decision on what it thinks is best for Miguel but would not disclose it ahead of Wednesday's hearing.
"His parents are saying they want what is best for Miguel and they would do what is necessary," she said.
An attorney for the parents did not return phone calls from The Associated Press on Tuesday.
DNA
tests released last week confirmed Fernando Morin is Miguel's father.
Test results on his wife are expected to be released at Wednesday's
hearing.
The Morins have not met with Miguel since he was found
but at a hearing last week, they asked state District Judge Mike
Schneider if they could meet with the boy but not reveal their identity
to them. The judge ordered the couple to be psychologically tested
before ruling on their request.
Olguin said the Morins' four other
children, who are between the ages of 7 and 14 and are living with
another couple, could also be discussed Wednesday. She said
confidentiality issues prevent her from detailing why the kids are not
living with their parents.
Champion-Morin had previously implied her four other children were living with her and her husband.
Miguel's
godmother and former baby sitter, Krystle Tanner, has been charged with
kidnapping along with her mother, Gloria Jean Walker. The two remain in
the San Augustine County Jail.
Officials have previously
disclosed in court that Miguel, in interviews with child welfare
authorities, said his name was Jaquan and identified Tanner as his
mother when shown a picture of her.
The long-dormant case got new
life last summer when Tanner took the boy to a hospital for a leg
injury. When she couldn't provide his name or a Social Security number,
hospital staff contacted child welfare investigators who eventually were
able to link Tanner to the 2004 Houston case.
Child welfare
officials have said the Morins were uncooperative with investigators
when the boy initially was reported missing. The parents deny the
allegations.
http://www.newser.com/article/d9tpbqdg1/judge-to-make-decision-on-whether-texas-boy-found-after-8-years-can-see-parents.html

A Houston boy who disappeared as an infant eight years ago and who
was recently found will remain in foster care while therapists determine
when he can be reunited with his parents, a judge ruled on Wednesday.
State
District Judge Mike Schneider agreed with a Child Protective Services
recommendation that 8-year-old Miguel Morin should remain in the state's
care at least until a May 16 hearing. The judge also signed off on a
child services recommendation that Miguel and his parents, Auboni
Champion-Morin and Fernando Morin, undergo therapy separately to see
when the boy might be ready for a reunion.
The parents, who live
in Houston and are both 29. They have four other children, ages 7 to 14,
who are living with another couple under an agreement between the two
couples. Child welfare officials can't discuss the reasons the children
aren't living with their parents due to confidentiality issues.
After
the hearing, the couple said little to reporters, although when asked
when she hopes to see Miguel, Champion-Morin responded, "Whenever the
court says so."
Mark Cooper, an attorney for Fernando Morin, said
the couple is willing to do what's best for the boy and will see him "at
the appropriate time."
Itze Soliz-Matthews, an attorney for
Miguel's mother, said her client wants Miguel out of foster care as soon
as possible and the boy's parents have submitted the names of three
relatives who could take in Miguel while his situation is sorted out.
"We're hoping to have some visits start really soon," she said.
In addition to therapy, Miguel's parents will also undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Soliz-Matthews
confirmed that DNA tests show Champion-Morin is Miguel's mother. Tests
released last week confirmed Morin is the boy's father.
The boy
has been in foster care since authorities found him earlier this month
living with his godmother and her family in the East Texas town of San
Augustine, about 140 miles northeast of Houston.
The godmother,
Krystle Tanner, and her mother, Gloria Jean Walker, were indicted
Wednesday on charges of kidnapping and injuring a child, and they may be
arraigned next week, said San Augustine County District Attorney Kevin
Dutton. They were being held in the county jail, and neither has
publicly addressed the allegations.
Authorities allege that Tanner
abducted Miguel in 2004 when he was 8 months old, and that Walker knew
and didn't notify the authorities. Officials have previously disclosed
in court that Miguel, in interviews with child welfare authorities, said
his name was Jaquan and identified Tanner as his mother and Walker as
his grandmother.
Estella Olguin, a spokeswoman for CPS in Houston,
said child welfare officials will conduct home studies to determine if
Miguel can be returned to his parents or if he should stay with
relatives. But the final word on when Miguel is ready to see his parents
will come from the therapists who will meet separately with the boy and
his mother and father.
"Miguel is going to need them to be
supportive and understand the transition that he's going to go through,"
Olguin said. "Right now Miguel believes his family lives in San
Augustine and he truly believes he is going to be reunited with them
soon."
Olguin said if Miguel is not returned to his parents or
placed with relatives, another option would be to place him with a
couple who currently has custody of his parents' four other children.
She
said the fact that the Morins entered into an agreement on their own
with another couple to take care of their children doesn't necessarily
warrant CPS intervention as long as the kids are being properly cared
for, which they are. She also said CPS hasn't previously investigated
Miguel's parents.
Champion-Morin had previously implied her four other children were living with her and her husband.
The
long-dormant case got new life last summer when Tanner took the boy to a
hospital for a leg injury. When she couldn't provide his name or a
Social Security number, hospital staff contacted child welfare
investigators who eventually were able to link Tanner to the 2004
Houston case.
Police had identified Tanner as a suspect shortly
after the boy disappeared, but investigators soon lost track of her.
Relatives said she had vanished, too.
Champion-Morin had suggested
Houston police declined to issue any sort of alert that might have
drawn tips. Child welfare officials have said the Morins were
uncooperative with investigators when the boy initially was reported
missing. The parents deny the allegations.
Soliz-Matthews said Miguel's mother has no criminal history and has passed drug tests.
"She is a person who is going to show everybody that she is stable and she's a victim here. Her son was a victim," she said.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/mar/30/us-missing-child-found-texas/

No matter how this turns out this poor boy is being put through hell. He will have permanent psychological scars from this 8 year ordeal.

Miguel Morin, Texas Boy Kidnapped 8 Years Ago Now Seeing Parents

By JUAN A. LOZANO
09/12/12 03:53 PM ET

HOUSTON -- A Texas boy who was found in March after having been kidnapped eight years ago as an infant has begun getting to know his parents through weekly joint therapy sessions with them, attorneys and child welfare officials said Wednesday.

The attorneys said they hope this is another step that will eventually lead the boy to be permanently reunited with his parents. Authorities allege Miguel Morin, now 8, was taken as an infant, and his baby sitter and her mother remain jailed on kidnapping charges.

State District Judge Mike Schneider ordered after a court hearing Wednesday that the boy remain in foster care until the next court hearing on Jan. 9.

William Thursland, a court appointed attorney for Miguel, said the boy has been told who his biological parents are and the joint therapy sessions that began about a month ago are being used as a way for the boy and his parents to get to know each other.

"It's just barely begun so he's cautious," Thursland said. "It's going well but it's just going to take time."

Auboni Champion-Morin and Fernando Morin, Miguel's parents, who live in Houston and are both 29, declined to comment after Wednesday's hearing.

Mark Cooper, Fernando Morin's attorney, said Miguel is being carefully reintroduced to the "real people in his life."

"It's going gently and slowly and appropriately and progress is being made and it looks good," he said.

Champion-Morin's attorney, Itze Soliz-Matthews, said the joint therapy sessions were going "very well."

All attorneys in the case declined to offer more details about the therapy sessions.

The boy has been in foster care since authorities found him in March living in East Texas with Krystle Tanner, who had been Miguel's baby sitter in Houston. Investigators believe she kidnapped the boy in 2004 when he was just 8 months old and concealed his identity for years.

Tanner and her mother, Gloria Walker, each have been charged with kidnapping and injury to a child. They have pleaded not guilty and remain jailed in San Augustine, about 140 miles northeast of Houston.

Estella Olguin, a spokeswoman for Child Protective Services in Houston, said the goal remains to reunite Miguel with his parents.

She said while it was unusual that about five months passed after Miguel was found before he was allowed to meet with his parents, that came at the recommendation of his therapist due in part to the unusual circumstances of the case.

"We wanted to do what was in the best interest of Miguel and make the transition smooth and less traumatic for him," Olguin said.

Miguel was expected by the end of the month to start meeting, in a therapeutic setting, with his four siblings, who are living with Juanita and Joseph Aguillard, a Houston couple who have been taking care of the Morins' other children under an agreement between the couples.

His siblings "can't wait to see him," said Joseph Aguillard.

Olguin said when authorities found Miguel, he had never gone to school, was unable to read or write and functioned at a level below kindergarten. Now with additional help he has received, including once a week tutoring, he has caught up and is now attending second grade.

"He is doing really remarkably. He's really a great little man," she said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/12/miguel-morin_n_1878680.html

They should tack on another ten years for claiming no harm was done to the child. Even then, I don't think either of them got a long enough sentence.

Tanner got off way too leniently. At the very least her sentences should be consecutive, not concurrent.