A North Smithfield mother has been indicted on international parental kidnapping charges, accused of moving her five children across the country without her ex-husband’s knowledge or consent.
Jessica Abreu, 33, is accused of moving her children to Alabama and then Tanzania in December 2021, in violation of her existing court order.
In May 2022, one of the children sent her a text message to express concern about her missing father, who at the time was living in Rhode Island with his ex-wife and children.
According to court filings, Jessica Abreu did not return to the United States with her children, and instead took them to Tanzania, where she was arrested by the FBI agents who were waiting to meet her when they landed in Los Angeles on June 1, 2024.
The children were reunited with their father, who remains in Rhode Island, where they are currently living in a shared custody arrangement with their mother.
Federal officials have accused Jessica Abreu of moving her children across the country without her ex-husband’s knowledge or consent, and have said that she faces international parental kidnapping charges.
Jessica Abreu’s arraignment took place on Friday, and she was released on unsecured bond while awaiting further proceedings.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
