Allison Lee Quets, 49, last year took her twins, 1-year-old Holly Ann Needham and Tyler Lee Needham from their adoptive parents on Christmas Eve during a scheduled custody visit. She drove them to Canada where they were later found and placed in the care of Canadian Social Services. She was jailed and after waiving extradition returned to the U.S. where she stayed in jail after being denied bond until September of this year. The twins were returned to Denise and Kevin Needham.
When you read this article from The News & Observer about the potential sentencing of Allison Quests, did it make you question the judicial systems? Whether you agree or disagree with her actions, did her potential punishment, relative to other parental abductions, fit the crime?
Could you think of any other International Parental Abduction case where the “kidnapper” wasn’t given credit for time served, probation or the charges dismissed entirely? (You can read about some of those cases at Allison Quets Fund).
Once she was arrested, her case was unlike any other. She remained jailed and was not allowed to wear a GPS monitoring device while awaiting trial yet child molesters, stalkers, murders and others were afforded that opportunity.
Even while the sentence was being determined, why would her criminal case involve discussions concerning payment to the Needhams? Wouldn’t that be a civil matter? Can you recall any high profile parental abduction cases where the cost of a custody dispute was factored in as part of the sentence? Did the Needhams pay out funds for her criminal prosecution?
U.S. District Judge James Dever III referred to Quets in court today as “the kidnapper” and indicated that he was trying to come up with a sentence that would require her to compensate the Needhams for their legal expenses. He took a break in the proceedings this afternoon to allow the prosecution to calculate the Needhams’ expenses.
Before taking the break, Dever seemed to be weighing a five-year probationary sentence for Quets, which he said would give the government more control over her behavior than putting her in prison for a shorter period.
When Allison Quets was charged with “international parental kidnapping ” and ordered jailed without bond, it also made it almost impossible financially to legally fight for her children or even defend her actions.
In the end, U.S. District Court Judge James Dever III fined Quets $15,000 and sentenced her to five years of probation according to WRAL.
There have been websites setup for friends of Allison and of The Needham Family. At the Needham site, there is criticism of the public display of pictures of Holly and Tyler. Surprisingly, there are several picturesof them but the only faces hidden are of the Needhams or other adults.
Why you won’t see their faces…
Holly and Tyler deserve to have normal lives. They deserve not to be recognized. They deserve to be fussed over by strangers at the store simply because they are extraordinary, precious children and not stared at or ignored because people are wondering “Is that them?”.
Other Parental Abduction cases:
International parental abductions
Hot on the trail 26 years later?
From Fame to France to a Florida Judge
Smiley faces …sometimes they don’t tell the truth
Update 01-24-08 Judge denies Quets visitation
RALEIGH — A Wake County judge has denied Allison Quets’s motion to try and get visitation with her biological children.
Holly and Tyler should be given back to their birth mother, Allison Quets. she was coerced into giving them up for adoption and it should never have happened. The twins belong with the birth mother who loves them dearly.
Please listen to the people that think Allison deserves her twins returned to her.
Cindy Ikens