Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Wednesday, March twenty fifth, and
Speaker 1: a Utah mom has been charged with kidnapping. Who would
Speaker 1: she take an actual kid, according to police, why because
Speaker 1: she wanted that kid to apologize to her kid. And
Speaker 1: with that, Welcome to this episode of Amy and GJ.
Speaker 1: This is a case robes, at least according to police,
Speaker 1: where the mom took the bullying of her child into
Speaker 1: her own hands. Despite what the headline say, a lot
Speaker 1: of parents are going to be able to relate in
Speaker 1: some way, form or fashion of this story.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So at first it's shocking, and you start to
Speaker 2: hear what police are alleging, and you think, oh, my goodness,
Speaker 2: how could this mom do that?
Speaker 3: And then you hear her.
Speaker 2: Side of things from her attorney, and then you start
Speaker 2: to imagine, as a parent what you would do. And
Speaker 2: many people listening might actually have experienced this if your
Speaker 2: child is being bullied and you don't feel like anyone
Speaker 2: is doing anything about it. And on top of it,
Speaker 2: let's say your child has disabilities, because that is a
Speaker 2: part of this case.
Speaker 1: All right, So this case, we should say. The charges
Speaker 1: only came this week for an incident that took place
Speaker 1: September of last year. But this is a forty year
Speaker 1: old woman, Shannon to how do you say.
Speaker 3: Your land to Fuga? I believe Shannon too Fuga.
Speaker 1: Shannon to Fuga, who police have arrested and charged with
Speaker 1: kidnapping in one case of child abuse.
Speaker 2: I believe these are both felonies, child kidnapping and aggravated
Speaker 2: child abuse.
Speaker 1: All right, and this is all based on an incident
Speaker 1: quite frankly that is wild to hear about roades. But
Speaker 1: she took the kid, according to police, so she could
Speaker 1: force them to apologize to her kid. But the way
Speaker 1: this all played out, roads that make it sound like
Speaker 1: she was she was tracking them down in the neighborhood,
Speaker 1: which it's a whole caper.
Speaker 2: It sounds like like, yes, like the beginning of a
Speaker 2: child predator story. So they say in the allegations that
Speaker 2: this mom drove around the neighborhood searching for her son's
Speaker 2: alleged bully to confront him.
Speaker 3: She eventually finds him.
Speaker 2: He's riding his bike, as a lot of eleven year
Speaker 2: olds do, okay, Yeah, so he's eleven years old, he's
Speaker 2: riding his bike. According to police, she stopped her vehicle
Speaker 2: right in front of his bike and then made him
Speaker 2: get into her car, then drove him to her house
Speaker 2: without his parents' knowledge, without his parents' permission. Again, he's
Speaker 2: eleven years old. And then, yes, as you pointed out,
Speaker 2: forced him to apologize to her son.
Speaker 3: But she didn't stop there. According to police, she.
Speaker 2: Then threatened to have her husband beat him up and
Speaker 2: told him that he was lucky she did not run
Speaker 2: over his bike.
Speaker 3: This is great, she's angry.
Speaker 1: According to police. This is all according to the police report. Okay, now,
Speaker 1: the next part is actually she went back to being
Speaker 1: a p took him home.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she returned him home later that day, right there
Speaker 2: to his parents.
Speaker 3: So she didn't say good luck, bike home.
Speaker 4: She drove him back to his home safely. Make sure
Speaker 4: you get here, Okay, that part of the story. For
Speaker 4: whatever reason, as a parent, and we've all done this
Speaker 4: back and forth with kids and friends to make sure
Speaker 4: the kid gets home. We kidnapped you, and now we're
Speaker 4: going to make sure you get home safely. At that
Speaker 4: part of it just sounds wild.
Speaker 2: Yes, and so now, according to the complaint, the boy,
Speaker 2: this eleven year old, has suffered significantly. They say he
Speaker 2: suffered serious emotional distress and high anxiety. They say he
Speaker 2: has significantly altered his daily routine because of this incident,
Speaker 2: that this is something that now has had a lasting
Speaker 2: emotional effect on him, that he has been basically traumatized
Speaker 2: because of this.
Speaker 1: I didn't see can I'll ask you if you saw
Speaker 1: it somewhere in the reading. How long he was.
Speaker 3: No, I don't know how many hours he was held captive.
Speaker 1: A half hour could have been several hours depending on
Speaker 1: what the time was. This could be a much more
Speaker 1: horrible story. I mean, was he down in a basement
Speaker 1: for three hours or something?
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm trying to imagine the exchange. How do
Speaker 2: you force a child? I guess he's eleven, so he
Speaker 2: probably felt intimidated just by the fact that it was real.
Speaker 3: Yes, But I mean, and just.
Speaker 2: I don't know what came out of that, Like making
Speaker 2: someone apologize obviously doesn't make them actually feel sorry for
Speaker 2: what they did or even technically admit that they did
Speaker 2: it because they're under duress. And I just wonder how
Speaker 2: traumatizing that was for her own son. And now he
Speaker 2: has to go back to school after all of this occurred.
Speaker 2: I just there's a lot of problems with this. And yes,
Speaker 2: the eleven year old boys. Emotional state is an issue,
Speaker 2: and certainly her own child's emotional state. I wonder if
Speaker 2: she regrets it or if she thinks, hell yeah, I
Speaker 2: do it again.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, you mentioned the emotional state of both kids,
Speaker 1: and you know what, we should probably focused as well
Speaker 1: on the emotional state of the parent. There's a position
Speaker 1: we have all been in as parents where your kid
Speaker 1: is going through something at school and you're helpless to
Speaker 1: get them out of it. And sometimes that's relationships with
Speaker 1: other kids. They just got to work their way through it.
Speaker 1: And sometimes it's bullying. It's a little more serious, and
Speaker 1: sometimes you would even tell I'm sure you've told your kid, hey,
Speaker 1: you got to stand up to your bully. Hey, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna go to school and defend you. You gotta work
Speaker 1: through this. But there's another level where a parent gets
Speaker 1: emotional and upset robes, and that is if they think
Speaker 1: their child is going through something at school and the
Speaker 1: school isn't doing anything about it. That will set a
Speaker 1: parent off. I've brought this to your attention. My kid
Speaker 1: is being bullied, my kid is being picked, whatever it
Speaker 1: may be. And you get to the end of your
Speaker 1: rope to where what can I do. I can't go
Speaker 1: beat up a kid. I can't do this. What options
Speaker 1: do you have other than you just want to stat
Speaker 1: your kid and say, apologize to my child right now.
Speaker 1: You don't kidnap the kid to do it. But we've
Speaker 1: kind of all been in that position before where we've
Speaker 1: forced our own kid to go and say you apologize
Speaker 1: right now. It feels like that kind of thing. It's extreme,
Speaker 1: obviously kidnapping, But Gez, I think a lot of parents
Speaker 1: will look at that and go, yeah, I've been that
Speaker 1: kind of frustrated and desperate. And we don't know which
Speaker 1: of her kids, right, but she said one of the kids,
Speaker 1: maybe more than one has disabilities correct comor she's trying
Speaker 1: to protect her kid and not saying she's guilty of anything.
Speaker 1: But a lot of parents can look at this and go, yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Think a lot of parents can absolutely relate to the
Speaker 2: feeling and the emotion behind what she did, but maybe
Speaker 2: stop short of understanding actually following through. We can have
Speaker 2: the emotions, we can understand the emotions, it's the actions
Speaker 2: that are the problem that you chose to take.
Speaker 3: Now, all napping sounds.
Speaker 2: Yes, because it is actually if that's what happened. Now
Speaker 2: you mentioned it was interesting what you said because it
Speaker 2: actually sounds a lot like what we're hearing from Shannon's attorney. Now,
Speaker 2: by the way, she was reportedly a crossing guard for
Speaker 2: Provo City at the time of the incident, to a
Speaker 2: point where this investigation had to actually go to a
Speaker 2: different police jurisdiction. It couldn't go to the Provo City
Speaker 2: department because she worked for them. But the latest statement
Speaker 2: of there is Shannon is no longer an employee of Provocity,
Speaker 2: so it looks like she lost her.
Speaker 3: Position crossing guard.
Speaker 2: As a crossing guard, yes, I thought that was interesting.
Speaker 2: She is a cross she knows these kids. She knows
Speaker 2: these kids. She's a crossing guard for Provo City. Okay,
Speaker 2: here's the statement from her attorney. We respectfully deny the
Speaker 2: allegations made and the charging document filed this week. We
Speaker 2: believe these allegations stem from a troubled child and are
Speaker 2: not accurate. We look forward to presenting evidence to the
Speaker 2: state regarding repeat challenges of our client's children have faced
Speaker 2: at school, including the elementary school administration's ongoing efforts to
Speaker 2: address bullying and maintain a safe environment. It is unfortunate
Speaker 2: that we find ourselves in a position where we must
Speaker 2: defend the safety of.
Speaker 3: Our our children and well being.
Speaker 2: The filing of these allegations are a symptom of our
Speaker 2: societies failings and an erosion of traditional family values where
Speaker 2: children were once held accountable by their own parents. We
Speaker 2: remain committed to working through the legal process and will
Speaker 2: continue to seek a just resolution based on facts and evidence.
Speaker 1: How'd you read that?
Speaker 2: Uh, Look, it's the defense of saying, hey, and I
Speaker 2: do think there is a point that, yes, we don't
Speaker 2: see parents holding their children accountable. We defend and deflect
Speaker 2: and say and point fingers. There was a time when, yes,
Speaker 2: if you got in trouble at school, you got in
Speaker 2: more trouble when you got home. Now, when you get
Speaker 2: in trouble at school, parents call the school and say,
Speaker 2: my kid said he didn't do it. He's not staying
Speaker 2: at attention. However, that all may be true, it wouldn't
Speaker 2: defend what happened. But she's saying it didn't happen the
Speaker 2: way this kid.
Speaker 3: Said it did.
Speaker 1: I'm the statement raids as Yep, she did it, and
Speaker 1: we are going to justify it. It seems like they
Speaker 1: are setting this thing up where they're pointing the fingers
Speaker 1: that you all drove her to this by not taking
Speaker 1: care of her children, by not making sure they were safe.
Speaker 1: We look forward to presenting evidence regarding repeated challenges. Who
Speaker 1: cares that's not evidence. Has nothing to do with whether
Speaker 1: or not she kidnapped a kid. You're presenting a different
Speaker 1: case that got nothing to do with nothing. Now it
Speaker 1: could have an impact on a potential sentencing, maybe jury
Speaker 1: going yeah O or poor mom kind of a thing.
Speaker 1: But it sounds like they are setting up a situation
Speaker 1: here where she is the victim and was driven to
Speaker 1: this by you all's lack of care of her kids.
Speaker 3: Very interesting.
Speaker 2: All right, when we come back, we're gonna tell you
Speaker 2: what a local news reporter said Shannon told her about
Speaker 2: these incidents that were referenced basically by her attorney, and
Speaker 2: what she is facing if she is found guilty of
Speaker 2: these charges. Welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy
Speaker 2: and TJ. We are talking about a wild story out
Speaker 2: of Utah.
Speaker 3: We've had quite a few of them lately. I must
Speaker 3: say we have been covering Utah.
Speaker 2: I feel like NonStop between what's going on with Taylor,
Speaker 2: Frankie Paul and then of course, you had the au
Speaker 2: Pair affair murder trial.
Speaker 3: No sorry, I'm getting okay, that's a funny.
Speaker 2: It's Corey Richins, the Corey Richins Grief author poisoned husband
Speaker 2: murder trial. And now we've got a Utah mom who
Speaker 2: has been charged with kidnapping and aggravated child abuse.
Speaker 3: Police say that.
Speaker 2: She went out and snatched her son's alleged bully, forced
Speaker 2: him to apologize, threatened him with violence, then returned him
Speaker 2: home safely.
Speaker 3: But she is charged.
Speaker 2: And she told a local news reporter off camera, and
Speaker 2: they put this out there on their website, that this
Speaker 2: boy that she targeted, this eleven year old boy, had
Speaker 2: a history of bullying her children, not just her son,
Speaker 2: and she said some of them have disabilities, and when
Speaker 2: she took this to the school, little to nothing was done.
Speaker 2: So she expressed her frustration that this has been an
Speaker 2: ongoing situation, that it's not just one of her children involved,
Speaker 2: but multiple of her children involved, and that some of
Speaker 2: them have disabilities, and that this eleven year old has
Speaker 2: been a constant source of pain for her children.
Speaker 1: I don't know what obviously, this isn't the way. These
Speaker 1: are allegations. She's innocent, until proven guilty. No one would
Speaker 1: advocate that this was the way to handle it. Nobody
Speaker 1: will ever say, yes, I see what she was doing. Yes,
Speaker 1: damn right, nobody's going to do that. Even if we
Speaker 1: can all relate to how she was feeling, nobody's going
Speaker 1: to be on herself when it comes to this particular action. Robes.
Speaker 1: The first question I had as you were going through
Speaker 1: that was, I didn't think about this. She ever to
Speaker 1: speak to the other kid's parents.
Speaker 2: I just thought about that, Yeah, the first move. Yes,
Speaker 2: you'd think that that would be the first move. And look,
Speaker 2: we don't know, we haven't heard if that's true or not,
Speaker 2: but that would be an obvious reaction once you go
Speaker 2: to the school and you can't get resolution. I'd actually
Speaker 2: go to the parent first and then the school. But
Speaker 2: it seems like you would try to involve them.
Speaker 1: She seemed to know enough about the kids, she knew
Speaker 1: what neighborhood to drive around in looking for.
Speaker 2: Them, and the attorney did reference basically that parents aren't
Speaker 2: doing what they should, aren't holding their children accountable. So
Speaker 2: it almost seems as though in that statement it was
Speaker 2: implied that she did try to get the parents involved
Speaker 2: and that they chose to do nothing about it.
Speaker 1: So she planned a premeditated crime, according to them, driving
Speaker 1: around the neighborhood looking for a kid.
Speaker 3: She's a school crossing guard. She knows that's probably where.
Speaker 3: How she knows where?
Speaker 2: They all like, she knows everybody, right, Yeah, she knows
Speaker 2: these kids.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, and to your again. We grew up
Speaker 1: in a different place. We grew up in a different time,
Speaker 1: right in the south Midwest where we did our growing
Speaker 1: up to this day, Robes, I can it's the street
Speaker 1: over from Church Street where I grew up, another family lived,
Speaker 1: and this woman gave me a whooping outside of my parents.
Speaker 1: My parents are still at work.
Speaker 3: The idea of that now, she.
Speaker 1: Gave me a whooping, and I couldn't wait for my
Speaker 1: parents to get home so I could tell on her.
Speaker 1: They embraced her. They're like, what did he do? That was?
Speaker 4: Wow?
Speaker 1: Not just your parents holding you accountable, the neighborhood parents
Speaker 1: that aren't even yours. I remember that whoop into this day.
Speaker 3: What'd you do? Is what I want to know.
Speaker 1: There was almost always something convenient, but that idea Robes
Speaker 1: to look at this now. No, I don't know if
Speaker 1: she didn't kidnap me at.
Speaker 3: The time, But I bet you smarted off to her.
Speaker 1: No, I was very polite. I was respectful kid. I
Speaker 1: absolutely was. What now I would challenge you. I was
Speaker 1: an annoying kid, but I wasn't a smart Alex. But
Speaker 1: this type of thing now to where she feels like
Speaker 1: no one, the school and the parents aren't holding this
Speaker 1: kid accountable. So what can I do. I'll hold them accountable.
Speaker 2: She had to know that that was going to come
Speaker 2: with consequences. And speaking of that, there is a hearing
Speaker 2: scheduled for April thirtieth. All eyes will be on that
Speaker 2: Utah courtroom. But she is free until then. It's not
Speaker 2: as if she's behind the bar, behind bars, but behind
Speaker 2: the bar, we go out too much behind bars.
Speaker 4: She is.
Speaker 2: This was interesting. So two counts of second degree felonies.
Speaker 2: I read a story where the prosecutors had the option
Speaker 2: to actually bring first degree felonies because the charges most
Speaker 2: often come with a first degree count. But they just
Speaker 2: decided given the circumstances, and that might speak to the
Speaker 2: bullying that her children f they might have decided at
Speaker 2: that point just considering all the information they have to
Speaker 2: make it a little bit less. They said that they
Speaker 2: felt like that was more in line with what justice
Speaker 2: would require.
Speaker 3: So I thought that was cool.
Speaker 2: So two counts of second degree felonies, but each one
Speaker 2: carries a sentence of one to fifteen years in prison,
Speaker 2: a ten thousand dollars fine, or both.
Speaker 3: So this is serious. And if she.
Speaker 2: Were to be found guilty of secondary felonies, they're still felonies,
Speaker 2: and that comes with a whole lot of restrictions, and
Speaker 2: that that's a lifelong sentence in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's no matter what her what her kids
Speaker 1: went through, no matter how upset she was. I mean,
Speaker 1: we have to take it on its face. If these
Speaker 1: allegations are true. You can't snatch a kid off the street,
Speaker 1: no come to your house.
Speaker 2: There have to be consequences, the absolutely and well, we will,
Speaker 2: of course stay on top of this story. But we
Speaker 2: always appreciate you listening to us. Everyone on Amy Robock
Speaker 2: alongside TJ.
Speaker 1: Holmes.
Speaker 3: We will talk walked to you soon.