This archive report was first published on 6 December 2019.
Published on December 6, 2019, an American man's custody battle for his two-year-old son has taken a dramatic turn. Claude Dary claims his Kenyan girlfriend abruptly cut off communication with him and took their son, Rowan, to Kenya last year.
According to court documents, the woman had flown back to Kenya with the minor within a week of cutting off communication. Dary has since filed fresh papers in a New York court requesting custody of the child.
A Manhattan Family Court judge initially ruled in May that the Kenyan woman should return the boy to the US, but the decision was stayed after her attorney appealed. A hearing for Dary's appeal is scheduled for late January 2020.
Despite efforts by Dary to reach out to the US State Department and the Kenyan Embassy, the State Department has stated in a letter that Kenya is not a signatory to the 1990 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, making it difficult to facilitate Rowan's return.
