Christian activist guilty of kidnapping girl to ‘rescue’ her from lesbian mum
A Christian activist who helped kidnap a lesbian mum’s daughter and smuggle her out the country has been found guilty.
Isabella Miller-Jenkins’s lesbian parents – Janet Jenkins and Lisa Ann Miller – split up in 2004 when Miller joined a radical Christian church and renounced her sexuality.
Miller now believes homosexuality to be a sin and sought to retain custody of Isabella – but Ms Jenkins was awarded custody of her daughter by a Virginia court in 2009, after years of bitter legal disputes.
Just weeks after the 2009 custody decision, Miller secretly fled the country with a 7-year-old Isabella, with help from anti-LGBT Christian activists. Neither has been seen since.
This week, Virginia businessman Philip Zodhiates, was convicted of helping Miller kidnap her daughter, driving the pair to the Canadian border, and helping make arrangements for them to fly onwards to Central America.
A federal court in Buffalo found Zodhiates guilty of international parental kidnapping and conspiracy. When sentenced in January, he could face eight years in jail.
Another man involved in the conspiracy, Mennonite pastor Kenneth Miller (no relation) was jailed earlier this year.
A third defendant, pastor Timothy Miller (also no relation) allegedly aided and abetted the pair at a safe house in Nicaragua.
