Boys at centre of custody dispute apprehended at remote farm

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Two boys at the centre of a custody dispute between their Finnish mother, Outi Koski, and their American father were apprehended at a farm in Ristijärvi in Kainuu on Wednesday evening. An American court had given the boys’ father custody in the matter.
      The boys, aged 10 and 13, were found at a farm owned by Pekka Turpeinen, CEO of the local radio station Radio Kajaus. They were taken into custody after a few hours of negotiations, and are to be returned to the United States.
      "The boys kicked and cried when the police carried them into the car. Their frightened shouting could be heard from the house already before that", said Turpeinen, who had watched the events unfold.
      A few years earlier he had allowed Kerstin Campoy, another Finnish mother involved in a custody dispute with the American father of their children, to hide at the farm.
     
Turpeinen said that there were about 20 police officers on the scene. Before they were taken into the police van, the boys' mother had already left the building.
      The area was cordoned off in the afternoon. Negotiations took place, involving the boys, their mother, and her father, as well as her American boyfriend.
      Turpeinen said that a local municipal doctor wanted to put the children into psychiatric care.
      The officials would not say where the children were taken, but Helsingin Sanomat has learned that the boys were taken to the Oulu University Hospital.
     
At one point the boys tried to flee out of a window without winter clothing, even though it was snowing at the time, but they were soon stopped and taken back in.
      The boys had spent their time fishing and boating. A few times they also visited the local village and the nearby city of Kajaani.
      The Finnish Supreme Court ordered their return to the United States, where the dispute over their custody was to be resolved under the terms of the Hague Treaty. The boys, who had come to Finland on a holiday with their mother, had lived in Espoo for over a year. This latest phase in the saga followed the failure of the mother and the boys to arrive at a meeting with bailiffs in Espoo in mid-September to negotiate the implementation of the Supreme Court ruling. 


Previously in HS International Edition:
  New development in custody case of Espoo brothers (17.9.2004)
  Supreme Court final ruling: Custody dispute brothers to be returned to their father in U.S. (3.9.2004)

Helsingin Sanomat