SYRACUSE—United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian announced that JEFFREY SHIPMAN, 51, formerly of Liverpool, New York, made his initial appearance today in United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. SHIPMAN was arraigned by United States Magistrate Judge Hon. David E. Peebles on a one-count indictment charging him with international parental kidnapping in violation of federal law. SHIPMAN entered a not guilty plea to the indictment, which charges that on or about July 12, 2007, he removed his daughter from the United States and did retain her outside the United States with the intent to obstruct the lawful exercise of her mother’s parental rights.
SHIPMAN’s initial appearance in the Northern District of New York today follows his appearance in the Southern District of California in February where he appeared after being taken into custody in Bangkok, Thailand. The child and her mother have since been reunited.
SHIPMAN was ordered to remain in custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for Monday, April 2, 2012 before Hon. David E. Peebles.
If convicted of the offense, SHIPMAN faces a maximum term of imprisonment of three years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of one year.
SHIPMAN’s arrest was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, and the United States Marshals Service. SHIPMAN is being prosecuted by AUSA Lisa Fletcher, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the Northern District of New York.
Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, and led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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