LEONARDTOWN, Md. — A 36-year-old Washington state woman was arrested in St. Mary’s County after allegedly presenting a forged court order to deputies while attempting to take a child from the child’s custodial parent and fly the juvenile out of Maryland.
Tara Annette Reynolds, 36, of White Salmon, Washington, was charged with attempted abduction of a child by an out-of-state noncustodial parent, making a false statement to a police officer and passing a forged public document.
According to charging documents, Reynolds first contacted the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office nonemergency line July 28 and asked general questions about child custody and the enforcement of out-of-state custody orders.
Reynolds allegedly told a lieutenant that she was already arranging flights to Maryland. Because of several suspicious statements, she was advised to consult an attorney, court records state.
On July 31, Reynolds contacted the Sheriff’s Office again and requested assistance obtaining a child younger than 16 from the biological father at a St. Mary’s County home.
Charging documents state that Reynolds flew to Maryland and met with deputies while carrying paperwork she claimed had been issued by the Superior Court of Klickitat County, Washington.
The documents purportedly ordered the Sheriff’s Office to return the child to Reynolds and appeared to contain the signature of a Washington judge.
Deputies questioned the documents because they were handwritten, had allegedly been issued unusually quickly and contained other irregularities inconsistent with typical court orders.
The paperwork also included a website address where similar forms were publicly available for download, according to investigators.
The St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney’s Office contacted the Washington court, which allegedly confirmed that the documents were fraudulent. Investigators said the seal was inaccurate, the case number did not match the purported custody matter and no related hearing was scheduled for July 30.
Reynolds allegedly told detectives that she had filed documents with the court but that they had not been finalized. Court records state that she acknowledged knowing the papers carried a forged judge’s signature.
The judge whose signature appeared on the document also told investigators that he had not signed it, according to the charging papers.
Investigators determined that the actual custody order originated from a North Carolina court in 2018 and identified the child’s biological father as the custodial parent.
A search following Reynolds’ arrest allegedly uncovered a travel itinerary containing two airline tickets from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to Portland, Oregon. The child was listed as the second traveler, with the flight scheduled to leave that day.
Reynolds allegedly told investigators that she intended to take the child to Washington state and appear before a judge there. Police said doing so would have removed the juvenile from the lawful custodial parent and transported the child across state lines.
Reynolds was ordered held without bond following an Aug. 3 hearing.
A trial is set for Sept. 24 in St. Mary’s District Court.
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