Mother back in court to face charges of trying to take children

A 28-year-old woman who does not have custody of her children but is accused of trying to take the two 5-year-olds from Ozaukee Elementary School in Fredonia in May was back in court this week after a warrant was issued for her arrest.

The warrant was issued and the $5,000 bail the woman had posted was ordered forfeited by Ozaukee County Circuit Court Judge Steve Cain after the woman failed to appear for an Aug. 31 hearing in Ozaukee County Circuit Court, according to court records.

The woman, an Elgin, Ill., resident who Ozaukee Press is not naming to protect the identity of her children, was arrested late last month and on Monday Cain set her new bail at $8,000.

She is charged with two felony counts of attempting to interfere with custody.

The case dates to May 2 when Ozaukee Elementary School Principal Lynn Kucharski reported that the woman had shown up at the school and tried to take her two children without the consent of their guardians, according to a criminal complaint.

The woman claimed she was taking the children to doctor appointments, but when Kucharski checked with one of the children’s guardians she was told the kids did not have medical appointments and were not to go with their mother.

Ozaukee County sheriff’s deputy Santino Valente, who works as the Northern Ozaukee School District resource officer, followed the woman to a car with Illinois plates that was waiting for her outside the school.

When Valente asked her if she knew she was not supposed to have contact with the children, she said she was aware of that but added that she wanted to spend time with her kids and the courts can’t keep them apart, the complaint states.

She said she planned to bring the children back, but when Valente asked where she planned to leave them, she did not have an answer.

During a subsequent interview with a detective, the woman said a Sheboygan County judge led her to believe she had custody of her children. If that was the case, the detective asked, why did she lie to the principal about the doctor appointments? The woman said a friend told her to say that, according to the complaint.

The woman also told the detective that the children’s father, who she lives with in Illinois, told her to get the children and they would go to Mexico, the complaint states.

An order signed by Cain on April 6 grants full guardianship of the children to their great-grandparents and states that parental visitation is at the discretion of the guardians.

When Valente spoke with the children’s great-grandparents, they confirmed the children did not have doctor appointments and their mother did not have permission to pick them up from school on May 2.

The woman has been ordered by Cain not to have contact with her children, their guardians or Kucharski and to stay 500 feet away from Ozaukee Elementary School. The judge also ordered her to surrender her passport.