Russia native indicted in Wichita on international kidnapping charge

A woman born in Russia was indicted Wednesday in Wichita on a federal charge of international parental kidnapping, officials said.

Bogdana Alexandrovna Mobley, 37, was arrested on Sept. 29 after spending more than three years in Russia, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said in a prepared statement. Investigators think her three children are still in Russia.

Court records indicate Mobley emigrated from Russia to the U.S. in 2003. She later became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Her second husband filed for divorce in Sedgwick County District Court in 2014.

While the case was still pending, Mobley fled to Russia while pregnant with her third child. She took her other two children with her, Beall said.

One of the children was born in 2004, when she was married for the first time, and the other was born in 2013 while she was married to her second husband. In December 2014, a Sedgwick County judge granted full custody of the two younger children to Mobley’s ex-husband and ordered her to return them to him, Beall said.

While she was in Russia, Mobley would allegedly allow her ex-husband to communicate with his children only by cell phone or Skype. He flew to meet her on the border of Poland and Russia in January 2015, Beall said, but she did not allow him to see the children. She also reportedly demanded that he give her money if he wanted to talk to them.

Mobley faces up to three years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the kidnapping charge, Beall said.

This story was originally published October 11, 2017 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Russia native indicted in Wichita on international kidnapping charge."