According to court papers, Joel Rosenthal, 61, and Dawn Hutchinson, 43, of Fayston fled the state late on the evening of Sept. 4 after a judge issued an emergency care order to bring Hutchinson’s 4-year-old granddaughter into state custody.
Prosecutors say that Rosenthal and Hutchinson unlawfully restrained Hutchinson’s granddaughter, which could carry a penalty of five years in prison or a fine of $25,000. Hutchinson faces an additional charge of custodial interference.
A DCF social worker recommended that the child be taken into custody based on a statement from Rosenthal and Hutchinson’s neighbor, Leanne LaPan. LaPan told the worker that Rosenthal physically assaulted Hutchinson in front of the child, and said that the child “never goes outside” and “sleeps until noon most days.”
The worker’s affidavit alleges that Rosenthal flew into a rage the previous day after Hutchinson was served with papers notifying her of a court date for a temporary care hearing about her granddaughter.
Following the order for the child to come into state custody Sept. 4, Vermont State Trooper Christopher Brown went to retrieve the child from family’s home in Fayston.
But when Brown arrived at the residence, the door was locked and Hutchinson and Rosenthal were not there.
According to Brown’s affidavit, he spoke by phone with Hutchinson, who refused to give information about her location. He then tried to track the pair using pings from their cellphones.
Brown reported that Hutchinson contacted him shortly after 11 p.m. to tell him that they were on their way to Illinois to return the child to her biological mother, Hutchinson’s daughter.
A review by the Vermont State Police released earlier this week showed that the decision to issue an Amber Alert was made a few hours later. Rosenthal and Hutchinson were arrested in New York early the next morning, after a driver saw the Amber Alert and spotted the car they were using.
Hutchinson and Rosenthal were jailed in New York until their extradition to Vermont to face charges.
Rosenthal and Hutchinson were released on conditions following the arraignment Thursday at Washington Superior Court in Barre.
