A California dad has launched an more and more determined seek for his 4-year previous autistic son after he claims his ex-wife kidnapped the boy to a distant Central Asian capital — and overseas officers have dragged their ft in forcing the internationally-wanted mother to show over the weak boy.
Guillaume Garreau, 40, says he’s initiated a starvation strike outdoors the prosecutor’s workplace in Almaty, Kazakhstan in a last-ditch plea for native authorities to implement court docket orders to recuperate his 4-year-old son Maximilien.
The starvation strike is the newest chapter in a hellish 28-month saga for the Bay Space tech skilled, who says he hasn’t seen his son in years after a lenient choose allowed his ex-wife, Sana Onayeva, to take the boy abroad even after she was discovered to be abusive.
Onayeva had suspiciously wired her brother in Kazhakstan $220,000 previous to the alleged abduction however the choose, former public defender Michelle Tong, allowed her to journey with the boy anyway over Garreau’s sturdy objections in court docket.
Onayeva and the toddler by no means returned.
The heartbroken father says he’s stationed outdoors the federal government constructing in Almaty till he will get solutions on the whereabouts of his son, whom he hasn’t seen since March 2024.
“I’m doing this not as a result of I need to, however as a result of I’m a guardian who has been left with no different approach to make the authorities hear that my baby remains to be lacking and that day by day with out motion is one other day of struggling for me and for him,” Garreau stated in an e-mail.
Garreau, 40, and Onayeva, 46, married in 2020 and welcomed Maximilien the next 12 months, however the marriage quickly unraveled.
Garreau alleged that Onayeva, a former alter professor at College of San Francisco in line with a social media profile, grew to become verbally and bodily abusive in the direction of him and he filed for separation in February 2023.
A household court docket discovered that Onayeva had dedicated home abuse earlier than Tong was assigned to the case, in line with the San Francisco Customary.
Garreau’s attorneys argued in court docket that she shouldn’t be allowed to journey dwelling with the boy, notably given Kazakhstan’s lack of a Hague Abduction Conference treaty that enables authorities to extra simply recuperate lacking youngsters.
A felony warrant for kidnapping was issued on March 30, 2024, in line with the Nationwide Middle for Lacking and Exploited Kids.
The French-American dad has spent greater than $250,000 making an attempt to compel authorities within the U.S., France and Kazakhstan to assist find his son, who suffers from autism that he fears has gone untreated.
Authorities discovered the boy final month, Garreau claimed, however the 4-year-old suffered an “acute misery episode” requiring medical therapy, and he and his mom as soon as once more “disappeared.”
Kazakh courts have acknowledged the kidnapping and ordered Maximilien’s return to California efficient February 2025, he stated.
Nevertheless, the order has not been enforced though authorities briefly positioned the boy, he stated.
“The central challenge is quick: if authorities know the place the kid is, why has there been no swift, clear motion to safe his security and implement the legislation?” Garreau stated.
“That is not only a custody dispute. It’s a case elevating pressing questions on baby welfare, legislation enforcement credibility, and doable obstruction of a lawful course of,” Garreau stated.
“A weak baby has already proven seen indicators of utmost misery in the course of a chaotic and mishandled intervention. Each extra delay will increase the chance to the kid’s bodily and psychological well-being.”
