PROVO, Utah — A 40-year-old Utah mother faces felony charges of child kidnapping and aggravated child abuse after allegedly abducting a 12-year-old boy she accused of bullying her child.
Prosecutors allege Shannon Tufuga drove around looking for Kristopher Bolanos last September. Tufuga is accused of kidnapping Bolanos off the street, driving him to her home and forcing him to apologize to her child.
Bolanos and his mother, Amberlee Collazo, described the encounter.
"I was going to say, 'Sorry that I got in your way.' But when I was about to say that, she was like, 'No, f-you get in my car, I'm taking you.' I'm like, No,'" Bolanos said.
"He says to me, 'Mom, I was just kidnapped,' like, as he's crying," Collazo said.
Collazo said the situation stems from a crush Tufuga's child had on Bolanos.
"I wanna know your part. Did you bully her?" Collazo said.
"He says, 'Mom, I called her a, a rude name and I didn't mean to. But I didn't know what else to do, she won't leave me alone,'" Collazo said.
In a statement, Tufuga's defense team said the allegations are "not accurate." The attorneys added, "It is unfortunate that we find ourselves in a position where we must defend the safety of our children," and blamed the incident on "an erosion of traditional family values."
The case is making national headlines, with many people supporting Tufuga. Collazo said she is absolutely surprised that she and her son are viewed by many as the villains in the story.
"I don't care how mad you are. That's not something you do," Collazo said.
"A simple conversation could have fixed this problem," Collazo said.
"He's going to have trust issues with people for so long. He doesn't even want to get on a bike anymore," Collazo said.
Tufuga has her first court appearance next month. While she could theoretically face up to 30 years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said that is very unlikely to happen.
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