The father put the baby in the middle of a custody fight on a train stay with his grandmother. However, DFACs and the mother never agreed to it.
MACON, Ga. — A Macon father now faces kidnapping charges after sending his 2-year-old daughter embroiled in a fierce custody fight to New Jersey to stay with the baby’s grandmother, according to a press release from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.
They say Dashawn Sarratt was in the midst of a child custody battle with the mother of the child, but on Jan. 28, the mother said that Sarratt had told her that the baby was taken to New Jersey. The press release says the custody battle and investigation was on-going.
Originally, the sheriff’s office says the baby was given to a family member of Sarratt, Samiyah Cunningham. They would temporarily home the baby until she was to be moved to another residence.
But instead of going along with the process, Sarratt, Cunningham, her mother Shinikka Cunningham of New Jersey and Sarratt’s mother and the baby’s grandmother Kiesha Burno of New Jersey took matters into their own hands.
The sheriff’s office says they arranged to take the baby by train to New Jersey to live with Burno, despite the mother and DFACS never signing off on the arrangement, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said the mother was told by Sarratt that the baby was taken from Georgia and New Jersey.
Burno would attempt to get custody documents for the toddler in New Jersey but the order was fraudulent, the press release said.
At some point, they say the New Jersey Child Protective Services would learn that the baby was not supposed to be with Burno and notified Macon-Bibb DFACS of the baby’s whereabouts. After a manhunt, all four were arrested and charged with kidnapping.
Samiyah Cunningham and Sarratt were arrested on Feb. 11. Burno and Shinikka Cunningham were arrested on Feb. 26.
Both Cunninghams and Burno were charged with conspiracy to commit and felony and interstate interference with custody and kidnapping. Sarratt was charged with kidnapping, conspiracy to commit a felony, interstate interference with custody and a probation violation.
They say the child was ultimately recovered and is safe.
Source link
