Bucks County 'Kidnap Hoax' Mom Out of Jail

  
KYW Newsradio Team Coverage

The 38-year-old Feasterville woman who fled to Disney World with her daughter after claiming they'd been abducted is out of jail.

Bonnie Sweeten posted $100,000 cash, or 10 percent of her $1 million bail.

Officials say she was released from the Bucks County Correctional Facility at 5pm on Saturday.

Authorities said Sweeten would be allowed supervised visits with her children. 

A preliminary hearing is set for Thursday.

Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry explained why the state requested such high bail for what are currently just two misdemeanors:

“She had withdrawn a substantial amount of money and it was her intention to fund her getaway.”

A get-away that Henry alleges was driven in part because Sweeten knew the investigation was closing in on money she had stolen from current and former employees.

But defense attorney Louis Busico questioned the allegations that weighed into this bail hearing:

“An allegation is just that -- an allegation. In the absence of proof, in the absence of a complaint, a charge -- it's not much."

 KYW's Brad Segall reports that  Sweeten had a brief court appearance on Friday morning in Orlando.
   
Looking deflated, she agreed to waive extradition, paving the way for her to be returned to Bucks County to face charges that include filing false reports and identity theft.

VIDEO: Watch the hearing  

Bucks County district attorney Michelle Henry announced on Friday afternoon that Sweeten (right) was in the custody of Bucks County detectives and Upper Southampton detectives, to be transported back to Bucks County.  She was scheduled to be taken for a preliminary arraignment directly to the courtroom of judge William Benz in Richboro, Pa. sometime Friday night. 

Meanwhile, Sweeten's daughter Julia was reunited on Thursday with the girl's father, Anthony Rakoczy, who already seems to have forgiven his former wife:

"Bonnie is a great mother, and whatever happens it’s not Bonnie.  And I want to move forward just like normal, keep things like normal, like we always do -- day to day, back to school, back to work, and put this behind us.”

Bucks County authorities are still looking into how Sweeten financed her trip and looking into allegations that she may have stolen money from a law firm where she worked, or the Carlitz Foundation, where she’s listed as a director.

In a statement through her attorney, attorney Debbie Carlitz says she’s shocked and devastated by the actions of her former trusted employee and believes it’s not appropriate to comment until the investigation is over. 

Carlitz says the foundation is privately financed by her and her husband, and no outside donor money was lost or stolen.

Additional Coverage from AP


KYW's Mike DeNardo asks, should security at the airport have discovered that Bonnie Sweeten got on a plane to Florida using someone else's ID?

Authorities say no -- there was no security lapse, even though Bonnie Sweeten and her daughter were able to board a plane using a co-worker's drivers license.

A spokeswoman for the TSA says agents are trained to look for driver's licenses that may have been doctored or tampered with.  In this case, the license was legitimate -- it just belonged to someone else.  Sweeten apparently borrowed the license under false pretenses from Jillian Jenkinson, a woman with a strong resemblance to Sweeten.

So when the agents compared the picture on the license to Sweeten's face, it may not have raised any suspicions. And an FBI spokesman says paying cash for one-way tickets is legal, and on its own would not have raised any red flags.

So, short of requiring fingerprints or eye scans, authorities say, the system worked as well as it could.

Nevertheless, US congressman Rob Andrews (D-NJ, right) says that explanation isn't good enough:
   
"It really isn't, because there's at least two people that had to have looked at this, as I understand it.  The first is at the front of the security line.  And the second, they typically will look again after you go through the screener.  So for two people to get it wrong is a little disturbing, and I think it requires more training on behalf of the TSA to try to prevent this from happening again."
     
Andrews wants more thorough training for TSA agents, to help them accurately compare facial structures with photo IDs.  He says this wasn't a violent breach of security, but next time, he says, we may not be so lucky. 


KYW's Kim Glovas reports that Bucks County district attorney Michelle Henry says there are still many unanswered questions about the case, but one thing is certain: Bonnie Sweeten will face charges for this escapade. 

Henry says there were questions from the beginning:

"Law enforcement, early on, had some questions about the 911 call and then ultimately when the SUV was recovered in center city with no damage to it, it certainly started to raise red flags. Law enforcement took this very seriously, though, and we're pursuing it from all angles as you have to."

Henry said what motivated Sweeten to stage the elaborate kidnapping plan (see previous story) was still unknown.


Stay with KYW Newsradio 1060 for the latest on this developing story.