Couple face life for abducting adopted son

Family traced 20 years after going on run in custody dispute.

A couple who went on the run after being ordered to hand back their adopted son to his natural parents are facing life in jail after being tracked down more than 20 years later.

Barry and Judith Smiley say they took the child and disappeared with him because they did not believe that the boy's biological parents could give him the care he needed.

The couple are on trial in New York accused of fleeing the state with their adopted son Matthew in 1980. They had settled in Albuquerque, New Mexico, under the false names of Ben and Mary Propp and without initially telling their son of his origins.

A warrant has been out for the arrest of the Smileys since 1982 but they appeared to have evaded all attempts to find them. They had adopted Matthew in March 1979 when he was only three days old after the child's maternal grandparents made the arrangements and after his biological mother, Debbie Gardner, agreed to the adoption and had signed the relevant papers. The boy was born out of wedlock in Long Island.

But the boy's biological father had not been aware of the arrangement and the legitimacy of the adoption was questioned in court in New York more than 20 years ago. The boy's mother said she had been physically exhausted after giving birth and had not been in a position to make a rational decision. A judge decided the adoption was invalid and ordered that the boy, by this time 15 months old, be handed back to his real parents. The Smileys went on the run.

The boy's biological parents, who have since married and had two other children together, tried to find their son. They were unsuccessful and the Smileys kept the child and changed his name from Anthony to Matthew.

The Smileys' actions came to light last year when they honoured an agreement with their son to help him trace his real parents. Matthew Propp, now 23, said he was concerned that the people who brought him up will now end up in jail.

"The fear is that I could lose everything," he said before the start of the trial. "My parents are basically my life."

The Smileys will argue that they kept the boy for his own good because he had been diagnosed with a serious heart condition. They chose New Mexico because it appeared to give them greater legal rights to the boy should it ever come to a custody battle. The boy's heart condition improved and he completed his schooling and is now a security guard.

The Smileys took up a new career as silversmiths and established a new life with duplicate social security numbers and credit cards.

Matthew Smiley said he had been surprised to discover his origins. He has since met both his original father, Anthony Russini, who lives near New York, and his mother in Florida and has established relationships with them.

Barry Smiley, who left his job as a personnel director for New York City when he fled with the boy, said before the couple appeared on trial in Queens county supreme court: "We're terrified of going to court, of going to prison."

Their lawyer, Steven Brill, said: "We're not dealing with kidnappers here. When you see the way they continued to raise him and take care of him, you're dealing with parents that love their kid and would do anything they could to keep him."

Mr Russini is said to want to see the Smileys punished for their actions. "We're trying to be as reasonable about this as possible," Mr Brill told Court TV. "In our opinion, the Smileys are victims as much as the Russinis are."