Kelly Rutherford Refuses To Return Children To Monaco, Father Claims Child Kidnapping

Kelly Rutherford failed to comply with a court order Thursday when she failed to fly her children back to their father in Monaco. Ex-husband Daniel Giersch says the Gossip Girl’s actions amount to child kidnapping.

Kelly Rutherford insists, since California and New York courts have declared they have no jurisdiction over the children, then those same courts cannot order her to return her kids to their father, according to People.

“No state in this country is currently protecting my children. It also means that no state in this country currently requires me to send the children away. Hence, I have decided that I cannot lawfully send my children away from the United States to live in a foreign country.”

Hermes, 8, and Helena, 6, have lived in Monaco with their father, Daniel Giersch, since 2012 when a California judge gave the couple joint custody, but ordered that the children live with their father temporarily because his U.S. visa had been revoked. In May of this year, a judge in California granted Kelly Rutherford temporary sole legal and physical custody of the children. However, as the Inquisitr previously reported, in July, a Los Angeles judge ruled in Rutherford’s custody case that the State of California does not have jurisdiction.

In a statement to E! News, attorney for Daniel Giersch, Fahi Takesh Hallin, says Rutherford’s refusal to return the children to Monaco amounts to child kidnapping.

“Kelly has now added child abduction to extortion and false statements on her list of actions. He [Giersch] is very concerned about the traumatic impact that Kelly’s behavior will have on the children. Child abduction is a crime, and everyone involved in kidnapping or abducting the children will face the appropriate legal consequences. Anyone associating themselves with Kelly and her abduction is violating the law.”

In Kelly Rutherford’s statement on Friday, the Gossip Girl actress said she hopes her decision not to return the children to their father will finally end her years-long custody battle with Giersch and that her ex is, of course, welcome to travel to the U.S. to visit with Hermes and Helena.

“I hope that this decision will end this painful litigation, and that my children will be allowed to live in peace in their own country. My ex-husband can presumably travel to the United States on his German passport and exercise his parental rights in this country, just as I have done for the past three years in France and Monaco on my U.S. passport.”

According to E! News, a hearing in the case is scheduled for September 3 in Monaco.

[Image by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]