TAEGANA GRIFFITH - 5 yo (2010) - Niagara Falls NY

Somewhere in Jamaica, presumably in the care of her maternal
grandmother, 7-year-old Tageana Griffith finds herself in the middle of
an ugly fight, a custody battle turned international kidnapping.

No one is absolutely certain where the Niagara Falls girl is, but
they know she's not with her Jamaican-born mother, who is serving 18
months in federal prison for kidnapping, or her American father, who is
fighting to get her back.
What they do know is that father and daughter have been separated for
two years, and there's no sign of her coming home to the Falls.

"It's like a roller coaster ride," said Tigen Griffith, the father.
"Sometimes I get emotional. Sometimes I get angry. Sometimes, I'm even
happy because I try to stay optimistic."

Tageana, who was kidnapped by her mother in June 2010, is believed to
be in Jamaica, although prosecutors are quick to note that the reports
of her whereabouts are unconfirmed.

The search for Tageana, who was born in Jamaica but later moved here
and became a U.S. citizen, is the latest chapter in a rare type of case
in Buffalo -- international parental kidnapping.

While unusual here, international parental abductions have become
common enough that the U.S. State Department now has an office dedicated
to helping parents find their children.

The problem is big enough that a Hague Convention in 1980 produced an
international treaty governing how countries deal with cross-border
kidnappings. Unfortunately for Tigen Griffith, Jamaica never signed the
treaty.

"I can't imagine, as a parent, not knowing what is happening with
your child on a daily basis," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Fauzia K.
Mattingly, the federal prosecutor in the kidnapping case. "We don't even
know for sure that she's with the grandmother."

Or if she's in good health. Or if she's in school. Or if she's in safe hands.

The court case ended in late March with Tricia Griffith, the girl's
mother, sentenced to 18 months in prison for kidnapping. She faces
deportation once she is released.

Normally, prosecutors would welcome such a sentence, but this one
came with a caveat -- the judge stopped short of ordering Tricia
Griffith to find the child and bring her back to the United States.

"It's definitely not a win-win for the government because the girl is
still missing," Mattingly said. "Bringing the girl back was important."

Tricia Griffith's lawyers -- she's represented by the Public
Defender's Office -- would not comment on the case but in court papers
outlined why they felt the courts should deny the government's request
that the girl and father be reunited.

In court papers, Tricia Griffith accuses her ex-husband of neglect
and abuse and suggests he went so far as to change the locks on their
Falls home and throw out her and Tageana's belongings when they
previously traveled to Jamaica.

The mother's lawyers included a photo of the young girl's clothing in
a garbage can as part of their presentence report to U.S. District
Judge Richard J. Arcara.

They also detailed Tigen Griffith's alleged womanizing and suggested
he has a history of trying to intimidate and humiliate his ex-wife.

"According to Tricia, Tigen would push her when he got angry, bang on
the door and curse her, and demand, 'Why don't you go home?'" her
lawyers said in the papers.

Tigen Griffith denies the allegations and says his ex-wife was trying
to bolster her case against him before her sentencing. "It's painful,"
he said of the allegations against him. "It helps her build a better
case, but there's no proof."

He also countered her allegations with some of his own, including an accusation that she was unfaithful.

Caught in the middle is Tageana, who finds herself a poster child for
victims of parental kidnapping, with her photo on the website of the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Mattingly said the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica
have tried to intervene on Tageana's behalf but have been thwarted every
step of the way.

The effort included a visit by Tigen Griffith and U.S. marshals to
the grandmother's home outside Montego Bay in late 2010. What they found
was an empty home. The grandmother had apparently been tipped off to
the unannounced visit.

"I can't begin to express my frustration," Tigen Griffith said of the
government's efforts on his behalf. "I feel like they've tried but
haven't done enough."

How Tageana ended up in Jamaica is one of the chapters in this story that bothers him the most.

After he and his wife divorced in 2009 -- they were married three
years earlier when Tageana was 2 -- the judge handling the case gave
them joint custody.

That same year, Tricia Griffith took her daughter back to Jamaica
and, according to prosecutors, spent the summer there without her
husband's knowledge or permission.

When she returned, the courts took Tageana's passport but gave it to
her mother in June 2010. Prosecutors say she kidnapped the child a few
days later and secretly took her to Jamaica.

Tricia Griffith attempted to return to the United States a few months later and was arrested at JFK Airport in New York City.

"The sad part is my daughter wasn't with her," said Tigen Griffith.

Not everyone who knows the family thinks Tricia Griffith is the only one to blame.

In their presentencing memo to Arcara, her lawyers tried to make the
case that their client is a good mother who did what she had to do to
protect her child.

The memo included a wide range of letters from friends and family
attesting to Tricia Griffith's love and dedication to Tageana, a
19-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter.

"I have never written a letter to a judge on behalf of an inmate,"
wrote Yvonne Fertall, a minister at the Chautauqua County Jail. "But I
am pleased to do for Patricia Griffith."

Like many of the others who wrote letters, including Tricia
Griffith's two other children, Fertall encouraged the judge to talk with
the defendant in hopes of getting to know her.

"We all know crap and falsehood when we hear it," Fertall told the
judge. "Beyond her endearing accent and a smile that lights up the room,
this girl does not disappoint. She is genuine in her goals for the
future."

Cases of international parental kidnapping are unusual in Western New
York. There's a second case in federal court right now, but lawyers on
both sides can't recall many previous cases involving cross-border
abductions by parents.

For Tigen Griffith, a mechanic with United Airlines, it's little solace knowing his plight is unusual for this region.

"This is not about me or my losses," he told Arcara when his ex-wife
was sentenced. "This is about Tageana and what she has lost."

"Not only has she been deprived of precious bonding time with both
parents," he added, "she is growing up without the individual attention
that children need to prosper and succeed in life."
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/niagara-falls/article837337.ece