Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Sheriff's Deputies Investigate Bizarre Child Custody Case - News Story - KFOX El Paso: "EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso County sheriff's deputies say charges are expected following a bizarre custody child case that began when a Westway woman claimed her son had been kidnapped and taken to Mexico.

Investigators said they were called to the 1200 block of Lakewood Street. in reference to a child custody dispute over the weekend. Deputies met with a woman who told authorities her 20 month-old-son had been abducted by her sister-in-law and taken to Juarez, presumably to sell the baby for $10,000.

After an investigation by deputies, investigators learned that the accused abductor was actually the biological mother of the child. Further investigation determined the woman and her sister-in-law had previously made a verbal agreement in which they decided that the child would be given to the woman shortly after birth. Instead of pursuing a legal adoption plan through the courts, investigators said, the two instead allegedly planned for the biological mother to assume the other woman's identity in the hospital during birth so the two could later claim false legal motherhood of the child."