Two Utah residents are facing federal kidnapping charges after allegedly taking a 10-year-old child to Havana, Cuba, without the child's mother's knowledge. The child's mother alleges the minor was taken there for gender reassignment surgery before puberty.
The two were deported from Cuba on Monday with assistance from the FBI. Upon their return to the United States, both appeared in court for arraignment in Richmond, Virginia. They are expected to be transferred to Utah at a later date, where the case will proceed at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in Salt Lake City.
According to court documents, on March 28, Rose Inessa-Ethington—who shares custody of the 10-year-old with the child's biological mother, an ex-spouse—was supposed to take the child on a camping trip to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, along with Blue and Blue's 3-year-old child. The group never checked into their Calgary hotel or the campground reserved for March 29 through April 2.
The last known contact between the child and the biological mother came on March 28, when the child called by phone to say the group had arrived in Canada. The child was due back with the mother on April 3, following a court-ordered custody arrangement, which never happened.
Court documents allege the group crossed the U.S.-Canada border, then boarded a flight from Vancouver to Mexico City on March 29, before taking another flight from Mérida, Mexico to Havana, Cuba on April 1. Mexican immigration authorities confirmed the group's travel using their U.S. passports.
The family was concerned for the child’s welfare, as stated in the same documents. The child was born male but had come to identify as female—something family members largely attributed to manipulation by Rose Inessa-Ethington. Relatives feared the child was taken to Cuba for gender reassignment surgery ahead of puberty.
A Utah state court on April 13 ordered the immediate return of the child to the biological mother and granted her sole custody. Cuban law enforcement located the group three days later.
"We are grateful to law enforcement for working swiftly to return the child to the biological mother," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak for the District of Utah said.
"Our priority in every parental kidnapping case is the safety and well-being of the child," said Robert Bohls, Special Agent in Charge of the Salt Lake City FBI field office. "This case reflects the strength of partnerships in locating victims, supporting reunification, and ensuring accountability."
The case was brought under Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat child exploitation and abuse.