Canadian mother with North Carolina criminal charges asks state to drop decade-old case

Joanne McDowell, living in Canada since 2012, has formally asked North Carolina to dismiss obstruction and child abduction charges. Canadian courts sided with her; North Carolina still considers her a fugitive.

North Carolina charges follow Canadian mother for over a decade as courts remain at odds

Joanne McDowell, a Canadian citizen who has lived in Canada since December 2012, formally asked the North Carolina Department of Justice on 11 May to review and dismiss criminal charges that have followed her for more than ten years, carolinapublicpress.org reports.

Court records show that charges for obstruction of justice and child abduction were filed against McDowell after she took her young son and left the United States, despite a shared custody arrangement with the child's father, Dr Steven Buchman, a physician based in Atlanta who teaches and practices at Emory University.

McDowell, originally from Canada, had been teaching at an elementary school in Flat Rock, North Carolina, and lived in Hendersonville for roughly five years before her departure. She and Buchman were in a relationship in 2009, having met online. Their son was born in April 2010, and an initial custody agreement was reached the following March.

Abuse allegations and a lost USB drive

McDowell said she believed her son was being abused during visits with his father. A protection order was issued in September 2011 following allegations of "sedation, abuse, and child-safety concerns" during those visits, she stated in her letter to the North Carolina Department of Justice. The protection order was dissolved in November 2011, after which the child's physician, Dr Charlotte Riddle, reported concerns to social services.

During a subsequent investigation by the Buncombe County Department of Social Services, a USB drive containing audio and video material that McDowell had submitted as evidence was reportedly lost. The investigator assigned to the case, Brandon Townsend, left the agency during the enquiry. McDowell said she was later told the case had been closed, but received no information about whether her claims had been deemed unsubstantiated or what had happened to the USB drive. Her last contact with the agency was in September 2012, about a month before custody proceedings began.

When carolinapublicpress.org questioned Buncombe County DSS officials about the handling of the case in 2017, they declined to comment, citing confidentiality laws governing child protective services communications.

Court ruling and departure

After hearings held over multiple days in October and November 2012, a judge ruled that there was "insufficient evidence" to determine who had sedated the child and granted joint legal custody to both parents. Despite that ruling, McDowell said she remained concerned for her son following a custody exchange in December 2012, during which the child appeared to be in "acute distress," according to her letter. She left for Canada with him shortly after, arriving on 17 December 2012, per Canada Border Services Agency travel records and Canadian court documents.

Following her departure, Buchman obtained an ex-parte order from a North Carolina court granting him sole custody and finding McDowell in criminal contempt. Her first obstruction of justice charge was filed in February 2013.

A cross-border legal standoff

Whilst North Carolina's court system classifies McDowell as a fugitive, Canadian courts have taken a different view. Canadian judicial documents indicate that the courts there found McDowell had been acting to protect her child when she left the United States. In June 2015, Justice Carolyn Horkins in Toronto issued an initial endorsement of motions in McDowell's favour after she received notice in 2014 that Buchman might pursue a Hague Convention motion — a mechanism that would have compelled Canadian authorities to enforce the North Carolina court's decision. Justice Horkins characterised the matter as "a serious and urgent matter involving a 5-year-old."

More than a decade on, the two jurisdictions remain in disagreement. North Carolina considers McDowell a fugitive; Canada views her as a mother who acted out of concern for her child's safety. McDowell said in her letter that authorities in North Carolina are not actively pursuing her, raising the question of what purpose the outstanding charges continue to serve.

Request for dismissal

McDowell told carolinapublicpress.org recently that she has no intention of returning permanently to the United States. Nevertheless, the unresolved charges have complicated her life considerably. By submitting a formal request for review to the North Carolina Department of Justice, she is seeking a definitive dismissal of the case.

Buchman did not respond to a request for comment from carolinapublicpress.org ahead of publication. In a 2017 interview with the outlet, he denied all allegations of abuse.

Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)