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Canada wants jail for French woman in kidnap case
More articles on this topic: International Churches of ChristVANCOUVER (CP) - A woman who fled to France with her two children and accused their father of being a brute involved in a zealous religious cult told a French television station she’d do the same again, a Crown prosecutor said Thursday.
On Nov. 6, three days after Nathalie Gettliffe pleaded guilty to abducting her children against court orders, a French television station aired a program that included a telephone interview with Gettliffe from her jail cell outside Vancouver. Crown lawyer Gail Dickson told court Gettliffe was asked if she’d do it again.
“Given the circumstances, yes, yes, that’s for sure. . . it was either I flee or face death.”
Dickson said the interview was conducted before Nov. 6 though it’s not clear when it was taped.
The Crown has told court Gettliffe should be sent to prison for two years and she should also be given three years’ probation with conditions.
Dickson said the French-born woman has shown no regard for the best interests of her children - Maximilien, 12, and 11-year-old Josephine - who were spirited off to France in September 2001. Their father, Scott Grant, wasn’t able to bring them home until this past July 9.
“It’s all about her and what’s best for her,” Dickson said.
The case attracted wide attention, particularly in France where Gettliffe has said she plans to run for the presidency. Gettliffe drew more attention after her common-law husband told French media she was being forced to live in appalling prison conditions in Canada while she awaited the birth of their son, who was born in September.
In an agreed statement of facts about the case, Dickson told court Gettliffe was given repeated opportunities to bring the children back to Canada.
Meanwhile, Grant attempted to do everything he could to get his children back, including convincing a judge to revoke an arrest warrant against his former wife because it was an impediment to reuniting the family, Dickson said.
But Gettliffe refused to comply with court orders or with recommendations from judges and psychologists.
In 2002, a psychiatrist conducted an assessment of the children’s father, Scott Grant, and concluded he was totally capable of having a relationship with his children and recommended the children be returned to Canada.
The French court sided with Grant but Gettliffe refused.
Gettliffe continued to maintain that Grant was involved in a religious cult. Her allegations against him grew increasingly damning, calling him “mean and dangerous” at one point, and later accusing him of “despotism” and making “unreasonable sexual demands,” Dickson said.
Meanwhile, the village she lived in in France rallied around her cause and eventually she collected 3,000 names on a petition saying she shouldn’t be forced to return the children because of her husband’s religious affiliations.
But Dickson told court that Grant’s religion was never an issue before Gettliffe left for France.
It was only when Gettliffe needed to whip up controversy against Grant in France that she said their children’s safety would be in jeopardy, Dickson said.
Grant has said in an interview that Gettliffe attended the Church of Christ with him but later made it out to be a cult the children should be protected from.
After the children left for France, Dickson said Grant and his ex-wife were in periodic contact, but Grant was only able to see the children four times between 2001 and 2006 when he eventually brought them home. The first three were for only a few hours.
The last one was to last five days, but just before the visit was to take place, Gettliffe sent Grant a fax threatening to revoke the visit unless she got her Canadian passport back, Dickson said.
She also sent a fax to Canadian officials saying if she didn’t get her passport she couldn’t guarantee Grant’s safety because her community wanted to “lynch” him.
“What she’s doing is she’s holding the children hostage. . . unless she gets what she wants,” Dickson said.
Authorities knew the time for Gettliffe to defend a thesis at the University of British Columbia was running out and Grant monitored the university’s website for notification of when she would be defending it.
In April 2006, Grant notified authorities that Gettliffe would be returning to defend the thesis and she was arrested as she arrived in Vancouver.
A judge said at the time there was a “golden opportunity” to come up with a plan to bring the children back to Canada and build a relationship with both parents, but Grant continued to refuse.
In June, Grant went to France and met with French authorities and his former mother-in-law. Josephine Gettliffe said she wouldn’t turn over the children, saying instead they were “far, far away.”
Josephine Gettliffe accused him of drinking, taking drugs and attempting to sleep with his daughter.
French police eventually found the children with Gettliffe’s relatives in the French Alps. The relatives were arrested and the children were escorted to Grant and to the airport.
Original title: French woman would snatch her kids again; Crown says she should get two years
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