MILWAUKEE, March 4 (UPI) -- A state judge in Wisconsin said a young girl kidnapped by her mother to Japan is eligible for financial compensation from a fund intended for crime victims.
The ruling comes after a protracted four-year legal battle between Moses Garcia and his ex-wife, Emiko Inoue. Wisconsin courts ruled Garcia should have custody of the couple's then-5-year-old daughter. Inoue kidnapped the girl and took her back to her native Japan where she was raised, mainly by her grandparents, for several years, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Monday.
Administrative Law Judge Rachel Pings overturned a U.S. Department of Justice ruling that the girl would not get financial compensation from the Crime Victim Compensation Program because children in divorce cases aren't eligible for the fund, the Journal Sentinel said.
Inoue was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor in a deal with prosecutors, in exchange for her returning the child to her father.
Pings' ruling, which found the girl suffered greatly during the ordeal, didn't say how much she would get but ordered the Justice Department to make that determination.
Garcia made the claim on his daughter's behalf to recoup the cost of psychological treatment for the girl following her return to Wisconsin.
