From correspondents in Los Angeles, USA | April 17, 2009
LOS Angeles prosecutors are yet to decide if Australian father George Betsis will be charged with kidnapping his son.
Mr Betsis has been on the run for almost two weeks in Los Angeles after picking up his 10-year-old son, Tomas, from a school in the city's affluent suburb of Pacific Palisades on April 3.
Mr Betsis, a Sydney-based advertising executive, is embroiled in a custody battle with ex-wife and Tomas' mother, celebrity "baby whisperer'' Priscilla Dunstan.
In interviews from secret locations with various Australian media organisations, Mr Betsis said he took the extreme decision to take his son into hiding because he was desperate to spend time with him.
An LA lawyer hired by Mr Betsis arranged for Tomas to be handed back to LA police on Wednesday, but Mr Betsis remains in hiding while awaiting a decision by the Los Angeles District Attorney's office.
"We have not filed any charges,'' DA spokesperson Shiara Davila-Morales said.
"The case is still under investigation at this time.''
Los Angeles police will await the DA's decision before committing resources to search for and arrest Mr Betsis, an LAPD spokesman confirmed.
"The DA's office is still in the process of deciding if they will file charges against the father,'' LAPD spokesman Richard French said.
"I don't think we are tracking him down at this time.
"That doesn't happen until they (the DA) decide if they are going to press charges against him.''
Mr Betsis, now married to Australian actress Mary Coustas, best known for her comic character Effie, said he was shattered when he said goodbye to his son on Wednesday.
"I feel like I've let him down, sending him back in there,'' he told Australia's 2GB radio station.
"He didn't say anything really in the last minute or so - I was pretty choked up.''
No comments:
Post a Comment