Published: Tuesday, July 4, 1995
Section: BRWD N
Page: 2BR
Kathryn Reiter, the former foster mom who disappeared for 25 days with her foster child, will shed the electronic ankle bracelet that kept her tethered to her Hollywood home for the past three months.
At a court hearing Monday, Broward Circuit Judge James Cohn lifted
the house arrest, saying Reiter was no longer a flight risk.
"Emotionally, when you look at the big scope of prisoners out there, I don't think I need to be on an ankle chain," Reiter said.
Reiter, 38, ran off with Baby J in March after a judge awarded
custody to the child's second cousins. Reiter, who raised the baby girl
for two years, said the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative
Services reneged on its promise to
allow her to adopt Baby J.
When Reiter returned April 2, she was charged with fleeing to avoid a court order and spent five days in jail. As a condition of bail, Reiter was put under house arrest. The trial is scheduled for July 24.
Prosecutor Dennis Siegel argued against removing the electronic ankle bracelet that monitored Reiter's whereabouts.
"The same situation exists as when she ran the first time," Siegel said.
Reiter, a former Bay Harbor Islands councilwoman, acquired fake birth certificates and planned her escape for almost a year before the judge issued the custody order, Siegel said.
The house arrest interfered with Reiter's ability to care for her adopted son Thomas, Reiter's attorney, Miguel de la O, told the judge.
The child, who has severe attention-deficit disorder, needs stimulation and activity, de la O said. The conditions of the house arrest prohibited Reiter from leaving her house for anything other than work, court and medical appointments.
Reiter's husband Sidney, 74, has not been able to participate in Thomas' favorite activities, she said.
"I'm so happy. I'm going to take Thomas out for the Fourth of July," Kathryn Reiter said.
Baby J now lives with her second cousins in Hollywood. The biological mother has agreed to give up her rights to the child so the cousins can adopt Baby J. Reiter has also asked the court to allow her to adopt the child.