Missing Michigan Boys Update: John Skelton, Father, Arraigned for Parental Kidnapping
ADRIAN, Mich. (CBS/AP) John Skelton, the 39-year-old father allegedly responsible for the disappearance of his three missing sons, was arraigned via video in a Michigan courtroom Wednesday on kidnapping charges.
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Skelton appeared in Lenawee County District Court by video from the county jail, where he was being held after waiving extradition in Ohio Tuesday. The unemployed truck driver is charged with parental kidnapping in the disappearance of 9-year-old Andrew, 7-year-old Alexander and 5-year-old Tanner Skelton, who were last seen on Thanksgiving in their father's backyard.Police say Skelton tried to hang himself the next day, and fabricated a story about having first given the boys to a female friend to give to their mother.
Last week, the boys' grandparents said Skelton assured them the children were safe and that he insisted on protecting them from their mother, Tanya Skelton, who he claims was sexually abusing the young boys. The couple was reportedly going through a divorce when the children disappeared.
"He said to tell you that his boys are safe and sound," Roxanne Skelton, the suspect's mother, told reporters outside an Ohio jail Wednesday.
Hundreds of searchers spent days scouring the countryside on both sides of the Michigan-Ohio border, but found no trace of the boys.
District Court Judge James Sheridan scheduled a Dec. 28 hearing to determine if there's probable cause to order a trial on the parental kidnapping charges, which are defined as keeping a child more than 24 hours with the intent of concealing the child from the other parent. The maximum penalty is a year and a day in custody.
Skelton remains in jail on $30 million bond.
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE MISSING MICHIGAN BOYS ON CRIMESIDER
