Mother accused of taking kids from Kansas to Russia indicted

WICHITA, KAN. – A jury returned guilty verdicts today in the federal trial of a Russian-born woman accused of unlawfully taking her child out of the United States and keeping the child away from the child’s father in Kansas, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.

Bogdana Alexandrovna Mobley, 38, was found guilty on one count of international parental kidnapping and two counts of attempting to extort money from the child’s father.

During trial, the prosecutor presented evidence that in April 2014 Mobley took a child of hers (identified as S.M. in court records) to Russia despite the fact the biological father, Brian Mobley, had been awarded joint custody in Sedgwick County District Court. At the time, the Mobleys had a pending divorce case before the court. The defendant did not obtain the permission of the court or Brian Mobley before going to Russia with the child. The child still has not returned to the United States.

Between April 2014 and November 2016, the defendant only permitted Brian Mobley to communicate with S.M. via cell phones and Skype applications. She told Brian Mobley that he needed to send her money in order to see the child.

Sentencing is set for May 20. She faces up to three years in federal prison on the kidnapping charge and up to 20 years on the extortion counts. The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart is prosecuting.