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A Boeing 757 from the U.S. Department of Justice landed this Monday at José Martí International Airport in Havana on an unusual FBI mission to recover a 10-year-old American boy who, according to court documents, had been taken to Cuba by his transgender mother and her partner with the alleged intention of subjecting him to gender transition surgery before puberty.
The accused, Rose Inessa-Ethington, 42 years old, and her partner Blue Inessa-Ethington, 32, both from Cache County, Utah, were arrested this Monday with the assistance of Cuban authorities and are facing federal charges of international child kidnapping.
According to the affidavit submitted by FBI Special Agent Jennifer Waterfield to a federal court in Utah, the two women executed an elaborate multinational escape plan that involved 10,000 dollars in cash.
On March 28, under the pretext of a camping trip to Calgary, Alberta, the women crossed the Canadian border from the state of Washington on March 29, flew from British Columbia to Mexico City, traveled to Mérida, and arrived in Havana on April 1 using their U.S. passports.
The child was to be returned to his biological mother, identified only as "LB" in the documents, on April 3, which never happened.
In the home of the accused, investigators found task lists with plans to empty bank accounts, learn Spanish, and obtain tourist visas, as well as notes from a therapist in Washington D.C. related to "gender-affirming healthcare for children" and a payment request of 10,000 dollars to that professional.
On April 13, a state court in Utah ordered the immediate return of the minor and granted sole custody to the biological mother. Last Thursday, Cuban authorities located the group on the island and cooperated with the FBI to capture the two women this Monday.
The child was handed over to his biological mother in Utah this Tuesday, according to the mother's attorney, Tess Davis. The operation takes place in the context of the Trump administration's policies against surgical and chemical mutilation in minors.
Experts in parental kidnapping cases described the deployment of the government aircraft as unprecedented. "This is odd, highly unusual. I have never heard of anything like this happening," they noted.
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