Seattle man who kidnapped son, took boat to South Pacific sentenced to time-served
SEATTLE -- A Seattle man who was the subject of an international manhunt last fall was sentenced Monday to time-served -- about seven months in prison -- for international parental kidnapping.
Jeffrey Ford Hanson, 46, was taken into custody in late October 2014, on the South Pacific island of Niue, 1,500 miles northeast of New Zealand.
Hanson had been sought by law enforcement since September 12, 2014, when he was charged with international parental kidnapping for leaving Seattle with his son in violation of a court-approved parenting plan.
At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart said, “This kind of behavior, international parental kidnapping, is surprisingly common and has provoked significant penalties.”
Robart ordered one year of supervised release for Hanson.
According to records filed in the case, on July 17, 2014, Hanson’s son arrived in Seattle with his mother’s permission to visit for the summer months. Hanson knew he was required to return the child to Hazelton, Pennsylvania, prior to the start of school in early September 2014.
On August 30, 2014, without his ex-wife's knowledge, Hanson departed the Seattle area aboard his sailboat, with the son, and set sail across the Pacific Ocean.
When the boy failed to return to Pennsylvania before school started, the boy’s mother alerted law enforcement. The Coast Guard and law enforcement agencies throughout the Pacific Rim were then asked to be on the lookout for the boat and the child.
According to the FBI, the Niue Police arrested Hanson on October 29, 2014, after Hanson docked his sailboat on Niue shores in violation of Niue immigration and customs laws. The 9-year-old boy was safely returned to his mother in Pennsylvania.
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Earlier Q13 FOX News story below:
Missing 9-year-old Billy Hanson, believed illegally taken by his father on a sailboat from Seattle, was found safe on the South Pacific island of Niue, 1,500 miles northeast of New Zealand, the FBI announced Wednesday.
Authorities on the island nation arrested his father, Jeffrey Ford Hanson, and U.S. authorities would begin working on extradition back to the United States for prosecution, the FBI said.
The incident began when the boy was expected to be put on a flight by his father for return to his mother on Sept. 4, but never showed up to the airport.
Family and friends said the father took the boy to Seattle's Shilshole Marina and onto his boat in an apparent bid to take him out of the country.
A federal arrest warrant was issued for Jeffrey Ford Hanson on Sept. 12 in federal court in Seattle after he was charged with international parental kidnapping.
The FBI has been searching the Hawaii area and the South Pacific ever since. The boy and his dad were found on the island of Niue, an island nation that is predominantly Polynesian with a population of about 1,400. It sits within a triangle formed by Tonga on the west, Samoa to the north and the Cook Islands to the east.
"Billy's family has been notified and authorities are now working to reunite Billy with his mother," the FBI said.
The FBI and the Seattle Police Department Major Crimes Task Force is working with the U.S. Attorney's Office on the extradition process. Once that is complete, US federal agents will bring Jeffrey Hanson back to the US
The joint investigation combines the resources of the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Seattle Police Department’s Major Crimes Task Force, the Port of Seattle Police Department, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The FBI said Hanson is "extremely volatile" and "authorities are gravely concerned about the child's safety."
Police originally said the two may had been headed to the San Juan Islands, Mexico or Tahiti.
A neighbor told Q13 FOX News that the father is a very experienced sailor and has sailed around the world on his own. He believes the father and boy left the marina on Aug. 28, and the boy's parents may be in the midst of a custody battle.
The boy and his father were believed to be on a white, 1976 Cooper sailboat named Draco.
The boat the two are allegedly on.