Accused Abduction Faker A "Good Mother"

Woman Whose Driver's License Suspect Allegedly Took Tells "Early Show" Charges Are Totally Out-Of-Character

(CBS/ AP)  A woman said Thursday she gave her driver's license to a former co-worker who told her she needed it to fix office paperwork, and had no knowledge of her plans to fake her abduction and fly with her daughter to Florida.

Jillian Jenkinson said on The Early Show that Bonnie Sweeten's request to use her ID to fix a discrepancy on her 401(k) "seemed innocent."

Sweeten and her 9-year-old daughter, Julia Rakoczy, were taken into custody Wednesday night at an Orlando hotel, said Bucks County, Pa., District Attorney Michelle Henry.

Jenkinson said she had worked with Sweeten for nine years, but didn't specify where they had worked together. She described Sweeten as "a good mother. "She's always on top of things. She's the most organized woman in the world. She's always taking (her children) to their extracurricular activities -- dance and sports and things."

Asked by co-anchor whether the charges sound totally out-of-character for Sweeten, Jenkinson replied, emphatically, "Yes. Yes."

And when asked what she'll say to Sweeten when she gets to see her, Jenkinson responded, "I think whatever's going on in her life is a way bigger issue than my ID. So, I don't know. I hope that she's OK."

Henry said Sweeten presented the borrowed driver's license as her own when she bought an airline ticket in Philadelphia and flew to Orlando with her daughter.

They had minimal luggage and the hotel was paid through Friday, Henry said. Sweeten had withdrawn about $12,000 from several bank accounts over recent days, but authorities were investigating whether that money had been stolen.

"We believe that there were some domestic concerns with her husband and some financial concerns as well," Henry said.

In frantic 911 calls on Tuesday, Sweeten said two men had bumped her SUV, carjacked her and stuffed her in the trunk of a dark Cadillac. She implied that her daughter was with her in the trunk, according to Philadelphia police Lt. Frank Vanore, who listened to tapes of the calls.

Sweeten, who is white, described her assailants as black but otherwise gave few details about their appearance, Vanore said.

Police found inconsistencies with her story from the start, and noted that they could not find witnesses on the busy road in Upper Southampton Township who saw an abduction. The Denali was found early Wednesday on a downtown Philadelphia street, about 20 miles away, with a parking ticket issued shortly after the calls were made. Police knew the 911 calls were made in the same area.

Sweeten has two other daughters, a 15-year-old from a prior marriage and an 8-month-old with her current husband, a landscaper. Julia Rakoczy attended elementary school in Bensalem until she was withdrawn from classes May 1, said Susan Harder, an administrative assistant with the Bensalem Township School District.

Sweeten, 38, of Feasterville, is listed as a director of a New Hope-based charity called The Carlitz Foundation, run by lawyer Debbie Carlitz. The charity's stated goal is raising money for autism research and for people in Burma. Carlitz did not return e-mail or phone messages Wednesday night.

"Bonnie was a very, very organized person," said Susan Cordeiro, secretary of the parent-teacher group at Belmont Hills Elementary School in Bensalem, which Julia had attended. "She was at every meeting, she was very involved. ... She's on top of her game all the time, even when she was pregnant."

[sam-kiley]

bonjour
histoire incroyable, qu'est ce qui pousserait une femme a préparer son propre enlévement et celui de sa fille, serait-elle le gekyll&hyde des temps modernes, une double personnalité, de la bonne et la "stupide" voire maléfique mére a la fois..étrange
les prochains jours nous lediront..
au revoir..

[rrozsa]

"The charity's stated goal is raising money for autism research and for people in Burma. "

==========================

Does this strike anyone else as a strange combination - autism research and people of Burma? I didn't think Burma was even called Burma anymore -- it's called Myanmar.

[ceddy74]

I have a few more things I'd like to say. It amazes me and frustrates me to no end when there is such a flagrant example of racism here and some individuals have the audacity to say "get the hell over it." No, you need to get real and get your mind right. Far too often in this country when blacks are disrespected callously, we are told to "get over it." This is not acceptable. We could get over it, if some people would refrain from being so obtrusively ignorant!

The first issue is that this woman committed a crime and that the impetus behind this crime might have been to flee from other alleged crimes. Nevertheless, the fact that she felt so much ease in accusing black men cannot ne overlooked.

I have noticed that since Obama's historic rise to the presidency, some people have shown their true colors. Thus, race relations are not as advanced as some would assert. It is unfair and down right simple minded to always play the Obama card when blacks protest injustice. As a community, we were standing up for equality and justice before his presidency and will do so afterwards. So, let us adhere ro the facts!
Final Assessment: Dumb Crime, Dumb and ignorant attempt at concealing said crime!!

[ceddy74]

I'm with stickdog3. When I intially heard this report afew days ago, I immediately said: "This reeks of Susan Smith." The crime was very stupid. How sad it is that in 2009, people are still using the black man/men abducted my child B.S. I further knew it was suspect when it was mentioned that the alleged abductor's car was described as a Cadillac. Come on!! Contrary to popular believe, all black people do not own or drive a Cadillac. At the end of the day, she should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Additionally, as Americans, we should examine why it is that in 2009, people still feel comfortable lying and using the black man abductor story. Very interesting, yet very pathetic!

[labrat9999]

Boy the plot thickens on this one...do a goggle search on the lawyer, Debbie Carlitz, owner of the place where this woman supposedly works...turns out she has been disbarred. See this http://www.aopc.org/OpPosting/disciplinaryboard/dboardopinions/131DB2007-Carlitz.pdf

Also there are some blogs out there that the company she works for maybe running a scam.

[Slrman]

Well, she DID take her daughter to Disney World. How bad is that? LOL

The abduction bit was a little far out though. At least she didn't claim they were space aliens, so she's not as crazy as some.....

[adt13t]

Amazing how so many father/male haters
would turn this anti mother/criminal into a victim.
Double standard 101
And certainly grotesquely unattractive with a drawn trailer-ish
meth look similar to the astro nut anti mother who walked out
on her husband and children in attempt to find selfish penetration
by another astro nut.
that case also was teeming with parasitic codependents actively attempting
to sweep selfish criminal acts under the double standard gender carpet.

[TREVOSE76]

Seriously you all need help...NO ONE has said anything about physical abuse in the relationship! They said "Domestic Problem" not abuse! They were fighting about money and as you all will soon find out it was about money and nothing else! Stop jumping to conclusions and get over this race thing! It is about getting her help and help for her children right now. It was a completel idiotic move on her part and no one is denying that but as for calling her a racist is a bit extreme. It was a bad judgement call on her part to say black men but my goodness get the hell over it and move on to improving your own life!!!

[nishaboston]

This has nothing to do with Barack Obama, Democrates or Republicans. This is about a stupid woman who should be jailed and her children taken away from her!!!

[stickdog3]

Sounds like the Susan Smith case all over again. Except this one didn't end tragically like that one did. Deception! All of you posters on here have missed it. I see this all the time. Deception! Wow! I see this a lot on this networks show 48 hours Mystery, every Saturday nite. Everyone these people know always wax poetic about how wonderful they are, unfortunately, these people are living a lie. The husband probably had no clue what he had gotten into. Speaking of 48 Hours Mystery click on their link and look/read the transcript of that show this past Saturday nite called "Mortgage and the Murder" classic case of deception. The wife started popping somebody else on the side and it cost her and her unknowing husband their lives, or di it? Classic who did it. Another thing its always the Black male did it. Please!

[veils-2009]

She was found using face recognition software on the post 9-11 spy cameras set up on major city intersections and popular public places like Disney World.

Seeing as she has several children, but left with only one on a borrowed ID. along with the ridiculiously concocted story about having been abducted leads one to wonder what was she really running from. Did she suspect her husband was mistreating (physical abuse) this girl and trying to protect her? Maybe she feared physical harm from her husband and knew he wouldn't hurt her in front of one of her children. One thing is certain, she was less afraid of the consequences of being caught with a fake abduction than she was with something else she was running from.

[ROBACA]

in tune with the Republican mantra of trying to associate bl;ack people with crime.
Posted by tj217-2009 at 11:08 AM : May 28, 2009

Where do you get your information? All Republicans stupid? Is this because Obama is a black Democrat? Color and political party does not determine if someone is smart or stupid. Crime is associated with every ethnic origin; there are no exceptions. People, no matter what color or party, can be stupid. Sounds like this woman has deeper issues than skin color.

[jclark7613]

Yes I am a black women and life is to short and I'm a happy person to let those type of comments offend me. The important thing is it is a crime what she did and a stupid comment she made. It's nothing new about what she said so why would you or I sweat the small things. Relax.

[roger_inkart]

The most disturbing aspect of this story for me was the fact that interracial stranger abductions are rare at best, yet cops are so quick to believe them.
Posted by tj217-2009 at 9:07 AM : May 28, 2009

Yes, that is highly disturbing. But from what it sounds like in this story at least the police quickly nailed her story as a total hoax.

[lucilioness]

THE MINUTE I HEARD THIS STORY, I KNEW IT WAS A LIE.

[jclark7613]

I am a black women and it does not matter to me that she accused a black man of abducting her...What bothers me is that something is seriously wrong with her that she would lie about being abducted and waste taxpayers money and manpower to look for her and her daughter while she vacationing in Orlando. Unfortunate for (davicar2) you are obviously ignorant and don't know your facts.....

[nishaboston]

She is not a good mother!!! She is a thief and a liar! I hope they send her to jail for a long time. What bothers me is she lied and said two black men kidnapped her. The whole scary black man lie is becoming really tired and old and yet the cops are stupid enough to believe most of these stories no matter how suspicous they sound! It probably would have been more believable if she said two white men kidnapped her!

[mannie49]

What makes me angry about this sorry women is why does she have to say that her abductors were black? Are black people the only ones in this country to commit crimes? or did she think that her story would be more believable if she told the cops that she was abducted by black men? Sorry for my spelling, I meant woman, soryy woman. anti-global I am with you, I bet she will never spend a day in jail.

[mswolfestock]

This is a HUGE insult to all of the REAL Good Mothers ----

The ones who don't steal somebody else's ID, the ones who don't tell huge lies for their own self-serving agendas, the Good Mothers who DON'T have self-serving agendas, the Good Mothers who would never "crack under pressure," etc.

Y'all quit trying to make excuses for this obviously disturbed individual. She needs to face up to what she did, suck it up, and do the time. Oh yeah, and THEN she should figure out why she's actually a TERRIBLE MOTHER.

[dragyn30]

This is just plain sick. We had Amber Alerts through NJ and there were scant details on that.

Good mother??? Pleeaase, she left a baby behind! Give her a long vacation and get the kids away from her for a while before she hurts one of them to get the attention she appears to be craving!