A Pullman dad who fled the country with his two-year-old daughter now faces a federal charge of international parental kidnapping.
Federal prosecutors filed the charge against Aaron Aung Monday in U.S. District Court.
Aung was the subject of a manhunt in early June when he failed to bring his daughter back to the child’s mother.
Police were searching for Aung, his daughter and his fiancé.
According to federal court documents, Aung shared custody of the child with her mother and they were supposed to alternate weeks with the child.
Aung failed to bring the child back to her mom as scheduled on June 3rd.
The child’s mother told investigators that Aung had been abusive and that she was in the process of taking him to court for not paying child support.
A few days before Aung’s fiance Nadia Cole was supposed to be leaving on a trip with her parents when she walked out of the SeaTac airport.
Pullman Police issued a news release, urging people who had seen Aung or Cole to call police immediately.
The criminal complaint says the next time they were heard from was in Mexico on July 4th; federal agents say Aung was in his father’s Cadillac.
Cole was deported back to the United States.
Mexican officials took Aung and his daughter to a port of entry near Nogales, Arizona where they were handed over to officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
At the time, Aung was facing state charges of custodial interference.
Now, he’s charged with the federal kidnapping crime, which carries with it the penalty of up to three years in federal prison.
The court has not yet set a date for Aung to appear in court.
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