BURLINGTON, Vt., April 26 (UPI) -- A former Mennonite missionary has been charged with aiding the kidnapping of a girl who was the subject of a custody fight between female former partners.
Timothy Miller, 34, was released on $25,000 bail Monday by a federal court in Vermont, ABC News reported. He has been charged with involvement in an "international parental kidnapping."
Lisa Miller, who is not related to Timothy, fled to Nicaragua two years ago with Isabella Miller Jenkins, 9. Miller had been involved in a custody dispute with her former partner, Janet Jenkins.
The couple contracted a civil union in Vermont but later broke up. After the split, Lisa Miller became an observant Christian.
Documents filed with the court appear to show Timothy Miller was working with other people, ABC said. Plane tickets for Lisa Miller's flight with her daughter to Nicaragua were purchased with a credit card belonging to the pastor's mother-in-law through Golden Rule Travel, an agency specializing in "international adoption, humanitarian and missionary travel."
Federal investigators said Lisa Miller got paychecks from Lynchburg Christian Academy, a school affiliated with Liberty University, founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell.
