A view of the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Photo from Facebook
A member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota has been sentenced to two years in prison for taking her children to the reservation in violation of court orders. Tricia Taylor, 32, pleaded guilty to charges in North Dakota, where she lived with her children before moving back to the reservation last August. Her daughters, ages 7 and 2, are safe with her sister but their fathers have state court orders awarding them full custody.
A wanted poster was issued for Tricia Taylor last year. Image from Cass County Sheriff
Those orders conflict with one from the tribal court. Judge Brenda Claymore said the children can remain with Taylor's sister but it's not clear how the dispute will be resolved now that the mother is off to prison. According to The Grand Forks Herald, the U.S. Marshal’s sent FBI agents to the reservation last November to arrest Taylor. But they didn't take the children for reasons that do not appear to be fully explained.
The girls are shown here in a photo posted by their fathers on Facebook
The dispute appears to stem from an incident in which one of Taylor's daughters tested positive for exposure to methamphetamine. The father of one of the girls claims Taylor refused to take a drug test. Taylor has said that she suffered abuse at the hands of the fathers but the judge handling her case in North Dakota said a family court apparently did not accept those claims. Get the Story:
Fargo woman sent to prison for parental kidnapping after taking children to reservation (The Grand Forks Herald 4/9)
Mother accused of taking children to South Dakota reservation (The Grand Forks Herald 1/28)
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