Woman Charged with Kidnapping Beloit Infant
Child Found Alive in Iowa Today
| U.S. Attorney’s Office February 07, 2014 |
MADISON, WI—John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced today that Kristen R. Smith, 31, Denver, has been charged with kidnapping, in a complaint filed today in U.S. District Court in Madison.
The infant was recovered today. The baby was found outside a gas station in West Branch, Iowa, by the police chief of the West Branch Police Department.
The complaint alleges that on February 6, 2014, Smith took the infant from a home in Wisconsin and transported the child across state lines to Iowa. Smith was arrested yesterday in Iowa on unrelated charges and is currently being held at the Cedar County Jail in Tipton, Iowa.
If convicted of the federal kidnapping charge, Smith will face a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.
The charge against Smith is the result of an investigation by the Town of Beloit Police Department; Beloit Police Department; Rock County Sheriff’s Office; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation; Illinois State Police; Iowa State Patrol; and West Branch (Iowa) Police Department. The prosecution of this matter will be handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie S. Pfluger.
A charge is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.