Nicaragua Kidnapping

“A South Carolina couple have been accused of taking a young girl away from her parents in Nicaragua 14 years ago and harboring her in the US under a fake name.

A federal indictment describes Michael and Charlotte Taylor’s alleged conspiracy to keep the girl with them after they brought her to the US for medical treatment on a temporary visa in July 2005.

Authorities say the Taylors submitted a forged letter to immigration officials the following year in an attempt to adopt the girl, described in the indictment as ‘a small minor child at the time’ she was taken from Central America.

The couple then allegedly enrolled her in school under a fake name while ignoring the Nicaraguan government’s demands to return her home to her family.

The indictment, filed in federal court in Greenville, South Carolina, in September, included a letter US immigration officials sent to the Taylors in 2008, after the girl’s B2 visa expired.

‘You are currently harboring a child in the United States who has no legal immigration status,’ the letter stated.

‘Further, you are holding this child against the wishes of the Nicaraguan Government.’

‘You are aware that the Nicaraguan Government and United States Government have made repeated requests for you to return the child to Nicaragua. To date, you have refused to comply with their requests.’

Prosecutors alleged that the Taylors proceeded to enroll the girl in school under the fake name after having been warned by immigration officials.

The girl is now an adult and living in the US without documentation, according to prosecutors, who said she has not been in contact with her biological family for 10 years.

The Taylors were arrested and are facing charges for ‘harboring an illegal alien’. Their bond was set at $25,000 on October 10.

Attorneys for Charlotte and Michael Taylor declined to comment on the charges when approached by The Charlotte Observer.

It is unclear why it took federal authorities more than 10 years to bring the charges after warning the couple in 2008.

DailyMail.com has reached out to US Attorney Sherri A Lydon, who filed the indictment, for comment. ”
Couple ‘took a young girl from her parents in Nicaragua 14 years ago, harbored her in the US, enrolled her in school under a fake name and then sent immigration officials a forged adoption letter’

[Daily Mail 11/11/19 by Megan Sheets]

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