World Renowned Child Abduction Recovery Experts ABP World Group: Christmas is the Season for International Child Abduction - Parents Must Take Extra Precautions

Source: Yahoo

Press Release

As international parental child abduction surges throughout the world, ABP World Group, one of the world's leading child and adult abduction and kidnapping recovery security agencies is warning parents of the possibility of international abduction and urging them to take precautionary steps, including using newly developed, inexpensive GPS tracking systems for their children. Martin Waage, Managing Director of ABP World Group offers sound advice for targeted children and parents at risk of abduction.

New York, Los Angeles, Oslo (PRWEB) December 14, 2011

Martin Waage, the Managing Director of the internationally recognized security firm ABP World Group, and head of the firm's international child abduction recovery division is warning parents all over the world that the Christmas Holiday Season is considered one of the highest periods for international parental child abduction, and that parents, particularly those who are in volatile multi-cultural relationships and who feel the other parent may have intent to illegally leave the country with the children of their relationship must take extra precautions in order to protect their children's safety.

ABP World Group is one of the world's leading child and adult abduction recovery experts, and have participated remarkably in over 200 child-parent reunifications alone.

Mr. Waage commented, "International parental child abductions happens during the Christmas holidays as well as during the summer vacations. With international child abductions happening at a record pace, ABP World Group urges parents to take every precaution to protect their children from this horrible fate.

"Tragically, the number of global parental abductions occurring is an unknown due to failures by governments to keep accurate data; however, if we view the United States as a microcosm of the rest of the world, it is estimated that there will be between 100,000 and 125,000 children criminally abducted from now to 2020 alone. And Canada is no better as this nation's numbers could reach over 12,000 to 15,000 abductions when we consider the current reported cases of abduction, combine that with the forecasted unreported cases of abduction, and factor in a 20% growth factor, which is a modest factor in comparison to various government reports recently issued by various nations concerning abduction.

"Undeniably, Christmas presents a serious problem. As many targeted parents who have had their children abducted have said over and over, they were taken off guard and never knew or anticipated that their child would be criminally removed to another country by their other parent."

The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and many 'Western' countries are members of the Hague Convention On The Civil Aspects Of International Child Abduction, which is the international treaty that many nations have signed to address the issue of cross-border parental child kidnapping. However, many countries in the Middle East and Asia are not signatories to the international treaty, and around the world, many nation's who have signed the convention do not necessarily follow the spirit and intent of the treaty.

Martin Waage added, "The reality of international parental child abduction is that when we considered the reported and unreported cases, and also consider how our world governments consider whether a case has actually been closed or not, the truth is, what various non-government organization stakeholders are citing, such as ABP World Group, is that the actual percentage of children actually returned back to the country they were taken to is somewhere around 5%. This is a tragic number - but then all we have to do is look at countries such as Japan that have never returned a Western born child back to that child's country of original jurisdiction."

ABP World Group suggest that all parents be mindful that international parental child abduction is a growing epidemic. Accordingly, If a parents says they’re going to take the child out of the country, the targeted parent should immediately contact their local police and a lawyer that is specialized in family matters.

Still, clever thinking is a must. Mr. Waage commented, "It might be a good idea to consider equipping your child with a small GPS locator that can be hidden almost anywhere. The locator can warn you by SMS and e-mail if the child is taken outside a pre set area.

"By using a GPS unit, you will know where your child is at all times. And these GPS units can really be placed almost anywhere. Instead of receiving the information about the abduction after days when they have already left the country, you can by using a GPS tracker receive a warning immediately. This can buy you enough time, so you can warn the police and make them prevent your child from being removed out of the country.

"ABP World Group Ltd. has been assisting left behind parents, and recovering abducted children for more than 12 years. We have tested hundreds of different GPS tracking systems, but found that the majority of them do not work well. Either they have to short stand by time, or they have poor signal strength or user friendliness. Until now.

"ABP World Group strongly recommend the [Garmin GTU 10 Tracker. It`s small, light and have some incredible testing result. We have been successfully using this unit for some time now, and we recommend that every parent concerned with their child's safety use it. And in fact, the price is also reasonable (around 177 USD at Amazon.com)

"The GTU 10 is small, lightweight and waterproof. It easily attaches to a backpack, inside a teddy bear, inside a jackets pocket etc. When you purchase a new GTU 10, it comes with 1 year of Standard Tracking, so you’ll be ready to go once you register and activate it in your Garmin account. Then, you can view the location of your GTU 10 on a map from the friendly confines of your computer. For an added level of convenience, you can download the free Garmin Tracker app for your mobile device. Using your computer or mobile device, you can also create up to 10 geo-fences (virtual boundaries) for your device. When your GTU 10 enters or exits a geo-fence, an email or text message can be sent warning you that the GTU 10 is in a certain location."

For more information about how to prevent international parental child abduction please visit the official Website of ABP World Group. ABP World Group has operatives and agents operating in the many nations throughout the world, or visit ABP World Group's Contact Page. 

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Services

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Child Recovery Services

Parental Child Abduction - Lesson 1

by Jake Morphonios


Imagine...

You are in the kitchen cooking dinner while your children are playing in your front yard. When you go outside to call them in, they are gone.

Imagine...

You drop off your child at school before work. When you arrive to pick her up in the afternoon you are told that someone else has already taken her.

Imagine...

You wait for your former spouse to return your son following a schedule weekend visit. When your child isn't returned, you go to the other parent's home only to discover that the apartment has been vacated.

The physiological response in each of these situations is the same. Your heart begins to pound and your adrenaline starts to surge through your veins as the realization dawns that your children are gone. In an instant your brain considers possible explanations, but they each defy logic. Your brain already knows what your heart is desperately trying to deny. Your children have been kidnapped.

There are few horrors that can rival the experience of having one's child kidnapped. Movies and television shows sensationalize child abduction. The nightly news further distorts correct understanding of child abduction by only reporting on the most dramatic of cases, for example, the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart. There exists, however, a less-glamorous form of child abduction which is perpetrated by the child's own parent.

Parental Kidnappings

Each year there are more than 350,000 child abductions in America. The vast majority of these kidnappings are perpetrated by one of the child's parents. The official term for this type of crime is "parental child abduction", but it is also referred to as a "child kidnapping" or "child snatching". Regardless of the terminology, the fact that the child is taken by the other parent does not diminish or negate the raw emotional trauma inflicted upon the other parent.

Parental kidnapping is the unlawful abduction of a child by one parent which deprives the other parent of their lawful custody of the child.  In divorce situations, the abductor may be the custodial or the non-custodial parent. This means that even if the abductor is the custodial parent or primary caregiver, if the abduction deprives the other parent of his or her court ordered visitation time then the custodial parent is guilty of parental child abduction.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention conducted an intensive and thorough research study on child abduction in America. The project is called the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART). The section that focused specifically on children abducted by family members is called NISMART-2. This article extensively references the NISMART-2. The original study may be found at: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org

Defining Parental Child Abduction

"For the purposes of NISMART-2, family abduction was defined as the taking or keeping of a child by a family member in violation of a custody order, a decree, or other legitimate custodial rights, where the taking or keeping involved some element of concealment, flight, or intent to deprive a lawful custodian indefinitely of custodial privileges."

The NISMART-2 elaborates on the definition above by further defining the following terms: 

• Taking: Child was taken by a family member in violation of a custody order or decree or other legitimate custodial right.

• Keeping: Child was not returned or given over by a family member in violation of a custody order or decree or other legitimate custodial right.

• Concealment: Family member attempted to conceal the taking or whereabouts of the child with the intent to prevent return, contact or visitation.

• Flight: Family member transported or had the intent to transport the child from the State for the purpose of making recovery more difficult.

• Intent to deprive indefinitely: Family member indicated intent to prevent contact with the child on an indefinite basis or to affect custodial privileges indefinitely.

Conceptualizing the Problem

Of the 203,900 parental child abduction cases studied, 57% were labeled as "caretaker missing", meaning that the victimized parent did not know where the child was for at least 1 hour, became alarmed and searched for the missing child. However, the NISMART-2 reveals:

"It is possible for a child to have been unlawfully removed from custody by a family member, but for that child's whereabouts to be fully known. Thus, a child can be abducted but not necessarily missing."

In fact, the study found that 43% of the children kidnapped were not thought of as "missing" by the victimized parent because the child's whereabouts were known to the victim parent.

"Although the family abductions described in this study typically had certain disturbing elements such as attempts to prevent contact or alter custodial arrangements permanently, they did not generally involve the most serious sorts of features associated with the types of family abductions likely to be reported in the news. Actual concealment of the child occurred in a minority of episodes. Use of force, threats to harm the child and flight from the State were uncommon. In contrast to the image created by the word 'abduction,' most of the children abducted by a family member were already in the lawful custody of the perpetrator when the episode started. In addition, nearly half of the family abducted children were returned in 1 week or less."

Even if the child is not considered missing, the abduction is still considered child abuse because of the damage that it inflicts upon the child. The NISMART-1 found that, "family abduction can result in psychological harm to the child" and the NISMART-2 states that "family abductions constitute an important peril in the lives of children it is important to remember that the potential harm to family abducted children exists whether or not they are classified as missing".

Characteristics of Parental Abductions

Location and Season. 73% of parental abductions took place in the child's own home or yard, or in the home or yard of a relative or friend. Children were removed from schools or day care centers in only 7% of the cases. In 63% of the cases, the children were already with the abductor in lawful circumstances immediately prior to the abduction.

Police Contact. In 40% of all cases, the aggrieved parent did not contact the police to report the abduction. The study found a number of reasons for this, but the majority of responses indicated that the parent did not believe that the police would intervene in the matter because the child's whereabouts were known, they were in the care of a legal guardian, and it did not appear that the child was being harmed. The highest percentage of abductions took place during the summer.

Ages. 45% of abductors were in their 30's. 44% of abducted children were younger than age 6.

Indicators of serious episodes. "The use of threats, physical force, or weapons was relatively uncommon in family abductions." 17% were moved out of State with the intent to make recovery more difficult. 44% were concealed, at least temporarily, from the victimized parent-+. 76% included attempts to prevent contact. 82% included intent to permanently affect the custodial privileges of the aggrieved parent.

Conclusion

Parental child abduction is the unlawful kidnapping of a child by one parent which deprives the other parent of his or her lawful custodial rights. This kind of child snatching not only victimizes the other parent, but it is also a serious form of child abuse.

When the abducting parent chooses to go underground or flees the state or country, recovery of the child becomes exceptionally difficult - and sometimes impossible. Because of this, if you suspect that your child is at risk of abduction you must act now. There are steps you can take to reduce the risk of abduction, as well as actions designed to make the recovery of your child far more likely.

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Service

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Parental Child Abduction - Lesson 2

by Jake Morphonios

Parental child abduction is the unlawful kidnapping of a child by one parent which deprives the other parent of his or her lawful custodial rights. This kind of child snatching not only victimizes the other parent, but it is also a serious form of child abuse.

When the abducting parent chooses to go underground or flees the state or country, recovery of the child becomes exceptionally difficult - and sometimes impossible. Because of this, if you suspect that your child is at risk of abduction you must act now. There are steps you can take to reduce the risk of abduction, as well as actions designed to make the recovery of your child far more likely.

It takes time, time that you don't have, to assemble sufficient documentation to provide to authorities following the abduction of your child. To complicate matters, should your child be kidnapped you will most certainly not be in a calm state of mind.  Focusing well enough to collect necessary materials will be difficult.  Therefore, preassemble two sets of the following documents:

On the Children

• Several recent color photos of each of your children
• Two sets of your children's fingerprints
• A list of your children's social security numbers
• Copies of medical insurance cards
• A list of the child's scars or other distinguishing physical marks
• Any passport numbers or drivers license numbers
• A list of your children's bank account numbers
• A copy of any court order regarding child custody
• All your child's email addresses or networking sites such as MySpace
• Your children's cell phone number(s)

On the Other Parent

• Several recent color photos of the other parent or potential family abductor
• A list of the other parent's scars or other distinguishing physical marks
• Two sets of the other parent's fingerprints, if available
• Any passport or drivers license numbers
• A list of the other parent's email addresses or social networking sites such as MySpace
• The other parent's telephone number(s) and all known addresses
• The names and contact information of the other parent's close friends and family
• A list of all credit cards, bank accounts or other financial data
• Car information including, registrations, serial numbers makes, models, descriptions
• A list of any bank or retirement accounts, negotiable instruments and brokerage accounts
• A list of any other assets which could quickly be liquidated for cash

The purpose in creating two sets of materials is so that the materials can be kept in two separate "safe" spots. If the abductor takes your set from your home, you will still be able to obtain the other set. Leave this other set somewhere you can access quickly, such as in the home of a local family member or friend. Do not leave the information in a safe deposit box because if the abduction takes place after banking hours you won't be able to obtain your file.

Should your child be kidnapped, it is vital to quickly locate their whereabouts. Having materials gathered and well-organized will assist both you and the authorities in launching a quick and effective search for your children.

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Service

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook