A federal jury has convicted a woman from Côte d’Ivoire of taking her child out of the United States and leaving the child there in violation of a court order granting custody rights to her estranged husband.
Adjoh Dorcas Manou Epse Assoko, 46, and her then-husband, John Franklin Assoko, were living in Potomac, Maryland, when their child was born in 2023.
After Assoko filed for divorce, she obtained a protective order granting her primary custody of the child. However, in April 2024, she took the child to Côte d’Ivoire without informing the father.
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When Assoko failed to return for a scheduled visitation, her husband filed for emergency custody. A Montgomery County Circuit Court granted him temporary primary custody, but Assoko defied the order and left the child in Côte d’Ivoire with relatives.
Assoko was arrested by the FBI at Dulles International Airport in June 2024 as she attempted to leave the country again without the child. She refused to disclose the child’s location or the identities of the relatives caring for the child.
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Assoko faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison. Her sentencing is scheduled for January 9, 2025.
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