Wis. Court of Appeals rules interference with custody interpreted.

Byline: David Ziemer

Where a man convinced two children to accompany him to his home, he violated sec. 948.31(2) -- interfering with child custody, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held on Oct. 31.

The very strange facts of the case are as follows:

Andrew, 11, and his brother Shawn, 5, live with their mother. On Nov. 11, 2003, Andrew and Shawn were walking home from school when they had to stop to allow a train to pass.

55-year-old Isaiah Bowden, a stranger to them, crossed the street and asked if he could walk with them. Bowden showed Andrew a ring and engaged the boys in sports talk. Bowden also gave Andrew a card bearing his name and number so Andrew could call him sometime.

Bowden asked the boys several times to come to his house with him. More than once they said they had to get home, because their mother had a rule that they had to be home by 4 p.m. Bowden repeatedly said, No, come to my house, and the boys eventually went with him.

The house was the residence of Cindy and Robert Stobbe and Cindy's sister, Sue Mueller.

Cindy is a friend of Bowden's girlfriend, Amy Hoffman, who was also in the house.

The occupants thought the boys appeared frightened and said the pair stayed pretty scared while they were there. Bowden told Shawn to kiss the women, but they all refused.

Shawn was too afraid and Cindy said he did not have to kiss them because they were strangers to him.

Andrew said at least twice that he had to leave because he did not want to get grounded; Bowden kept saying they should stay and he would give them a ride home. At one point, Andrew asked Cindy what time it was; when she told him it was 4:30, he said, [W]e have to get going, we are late. The various adults estimated the boys were in the house anywhere from 10 or 20 minutes to as long as 45 minutes.

After about the fifth time that Andrew said they needed to go, Bowden told the boys that he and Hoffman would take them home and the boys left the house with them. Bowden told the boys to get in the car, but Andrew declined, saying they would walk home.

Ultimately, Robert and Sue walked the boys home because they were not sure if Bowden was going to have any more contact with them.

Bowden was charged in Winnebago County Circuit Court with two counts of interfering with child custody as a repeater. A jury found him guilty, and he appealed, but the court of appeals affirmed, in a decision by Judge Neal Nettesheim.

Section 948.31(2) provides in relevant part: Whoever causes a child...