| For Immediate Release April 12, 2007 |
Contact: Farrah Emami Spokesperson Office: 714-347-8405 Cell: 714-323-4486 |
MOTHER CHARGED WITH ABDUCTING FOUR CHILDREN AFTER FAILING TO APPEAR AT CUSTODY HEARING
*Defendant was arrested yesterday in Oregon
SANTA ANA – A fugitive mother was apprehended yesterday in Oregon on an Orange County warrant for abducting her four children after their father was granted full custody in Family Court. Larae Michal Hooks Tureaud, 29, Tehachapi, Kern County, is charged with four counts of felony child abduction and faces a maximum of five years in prison if convicted. She is being held in Oregon and will be arraigned on the fugitive warrant to determine if she will waive extradition. An arraignment date on the charges in Orange County is yet to be scheduled.
In May of 2006, Larae Tureaud, who had joint-custody of her four children, ages 2 to 8, following a 2002 divorce, is accused of refusing to let her ex-husband, Shawn Tureaud, have his legal visitation with the kids two weekends a month. After four months of being denied access to the children, Shawn Tureaud took the defendant to family court on October 4, 2006, where she was ordered to appear. Larae Tureaud is accused of failing to appear, and as a result full custody of the children was given to the father. Shortly thereafter, the defendant is accused of taking the children out of school and disappearing.
On October 19, 2006, Larae Tureaud was located at a shelter in Nampa, Idaho, and local police went to speak with the defendant. She is accused of falsely telling Nampa detectives that she was the victim of domestic violence. The officers allowed her to stay at the shelter and then contacted the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA).
The OCDA asked that the detectives return to the shelter and put the children in protective custody, as the defendant had a history of making false claims of domestic violence and posed a flight risk. When Nampa police returned to the shelter, the defendant had already fled with the children.
On November 9, 2006, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Larae Tureaud, who was arrested yesterday in Baker City, Oregon, after a tip led police to a shelter where she was staying with the children. The children were taken into protective custody.
Deputy District Attorney Jim Bacin of the Family Protection Unit is prosecuting this case.