What began as a confrontation over alleged bullying escalated into a criminal case in Utah after a woman allegedly kidnapped an 11-year-old boy and forced him to apologise to her autistic son.
The woman, 40-year-old Shannon Tufuga, located the child in his neighbourhood and forced him into her vehicle without informing his parents, KSL.com reported.
Tufuga, a resident of Provo, searched for the boy before confronting him while he was riding his bicycle. She was “driving around looking” for him when she spotted him in the area, as per court documents.
She then “stopped her vehicle” in front of the boy's bicycle and forced him to get into her car. Tufuga neither informed nor took permission from his parents before taking him home with the intention of making him apologise to her son.
The child reportedly apologised to her son at their house.
It did not end with the apology. She allegedly continued to threaten the boy even after he apologised, as per The NY Post.
“She threatened to have her husband beat up” the boy and also told him that he “was lucky she did not run over his bike,” the documents mentioned.
The boy was eventually taken back home, but the incident caused him “serious emotional distress” in the months that followed.
He now deals with “high anxiety and has had to alter his daily routines significantly.”
Tufuga has been charged with child kidnapping and aggravated child abuse, both classified as second-degree felonies. Initially, the charges were filed as first-degree felonies, but the Utah County Attorney's Office later reduced them “in the interests of justice.”
