Accused child kidnapper accepts plea deal

The Russellville woman accused of fleeing the state in March with two children she had been babysitting pleaded guilty to interference with custody last Thursday, officials said.

Teresa Lynn McGee, 30, 75 Wallace St., Russellville, accepted the plea of interference with custody, a Class C felony, and received a 10-year sentence split with time to serve and five years of probation.

McGee was first charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping in March when she took brothers Angel Everado Montoya, 6, and his brother, Christian Santos Montoya, 5, to Indiana and did not inform the boys’ father, Everado Montoya, she had left the state with them.

Authorities were first alerted to the situation when school officials received a call from McGee stating that she wished to have the boys withdrawn from school and then had a man come on the phone who posed as the boys’ father.

After the principal of the school became suspicious, he called Montoya’s local place of work and when Montoya answered, the principal knew something was wrong and contacted the police.

Authorities were able to trace McGee to Indianapolis, Ind., where she was apprehended without incident and the children were found unharmed.

“When the story about Teresa McGee first came out, the facts of the case sounded very bad,” Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing said. “After getting all the reports from the Department of Human Resources, all of the investigative paperwork and after speaking with the victim, Mr. Montoya, we decided this was the most fair settlement in this case. There was a lot more to the story once the investigation was complete.”

Rushing said the decision to have McGee enter into the plea agreement was based on the evidence, the confidential DHR reports and Montoya’s wish for McGee not to serve anymore time in jail.

He added that if McGee violates any of the terms of the plea agreement in her five-year probation period, she will be ordered to serve the 10-year sentence.