Authorities drop child-snatching case against American man

So...are they just going to deport him or what? This story going to update any further than this? Anybody else got some info?

IchyaWarFare,

Unless something has changed, and I am unaware that anything has, he is a Japanese citizen and, as such, cannot be 'deported'.

He was released a few weeks ago and is back in the US. This is the easiest way for the Japanese gov't to sweep this whole child abduction issue under the carpet. I'm sure he wanted this to go to trial, so there would be more publicity to it. Although after reading all the information that came out about both parents, neither were sympathetic figures in the least. They both were using the poor kids as pawns.

They had no case to begin with. He is a Japanese citizen, he is not divorced under Japanese law, and he is the father of the children he took for a ride. There is NO law that says a father can't be with his children and I think they are starting to realize how utterly stupid Japan is starting to look to the rest of the world with it's racist draconian ways!

The issue is now under the rug and out of sight (only in Japan of course!)

Glad for him, yet sad for him. He should have the children too!

Big surprise...NOT! Maybe Japan should catch up with the the 21st Cenjtury and update their parental rights laws! Hopefully she will enter the US and get put into an American jail...then justice will be sefved for taking HIS kids back to Japan!

wudnt it be better if these two stupid people cud work visitation amongst themselves. Its too bad it wasnt a more clear cut case that wud have soley shown on the J-justice system instead of 2 selfish types

I hope to god that the kids do not have to grow up in Tennessee. No one should be punished like that! In the end, they are much better off in japan than in the deep south, USA.

They never had a case against him to begin with, as it later turned out he was still legally married to his wife under Japanese law. To nullify a Japanese marriage, you need to file your divorce not just obtain it. They still haven't filed.

This is disappointing, a decision made only to appease Obama on the eve of his visit. Japan should have put him on the Interpol most wanted list.

Hopefully she will enter the US and get put into an American jail...

She will never want to go back to the US. She wouldn't be that stupid. Even if they didn't arrest her, she would be that stupid.... She now back in the land of the rising yen.....

I hope to god that the kids do not have to grow up in Tennessee. No one should be punished like that! In the end, they are much better off in japan than in the deep south, USA.

Amen to that!

Moderator: Readers, please refrain from insulting Tennessee. Such remarks only reflect badly on yourselves.

I hope this lying, cheating scumbag stays in Tennessee forever.

The issue is now under the rug and out of sight (only in Japan of course!)

Only until the next abductions.

Dropping charges and no changes or real conclusion assures that this will just happen again and again, with Japanese and foreign alike. Perhaps the next big case will have more sympathetic characters and a clear-cut "villian"

"if these two stupid people cud work visitation amongst themselves"

Stupid is as stupid does. If anyone ever wants to find out how stupid they can actually become, I recommend getting a divorce.

Franchesca Miyara, Paul Toland and Paul Wong cases... Because of these specific cases, we will win this battle. Trust me. Apparently something big is going to happen on December 3rd. Let's hope for the best.

dropping the charges was the best thing to do, but it puts Chris Savoie back to square one. He still doesn't have access to his kids, and will still have to battle the divorce-norms that hinder fathers time with their kids in Japan. In a sense, what he did he can only pull off once, and he has no more cards to play. Crappy.

I'm sure he wanted this to go to trial

Yea, I'm sure he did.... Even though he had little chance of a fair trial, he would have probably ended up getting 5 years, "NOT-Suspended," because he wasn't a Japanese citizen.

I think Japan should sign the agreement... It puts them up there with countries like North Korea who simply refuse to agree with international norms.

That said... Hatoyama won't gain any votes from Japanese people by doing this... although he's FINALLY allowed people with PR to vote... so he'll be getting my vote in the next election if he passes things like this ;)

Great move...

Well since he lost his kids to her violating the agreement maybe he should file to get his $800,000 back from her. She broke the agreement and I'm sure there is paperwork to show how much she took him for. So if she breaks agreements she has no right to the money he paid her. Now he'll need it to come to japan to visit his kids if indeed he'll be allowed to.

Miyara, hope you get good news!

Just remember any entry into the US will land her in Jail. And to our Japanese friends who seem to forget, Hawaii is America. Guam and Saipan also are off limits. Once her kids grow up and know how their mother took their fathers money (over 100,000 US to not do what she did) then kidnapped them to Japan, and then had their father arrested... I am sure they will be very happy with her. Interesting that no know has asked the kids.... Why no photo? CNN has posted this families photo ever where.

To the extent signing the Hague treaty on child abduction leads to joint custody in Japan for Japanese fathers as well, then I think Japanese have a lot to gain. Keep in mind, Japanese fathers are basically in the same boat as us.

LOL. The Japan-apologist on this board are funnnn-nny. And ignorant to boot.

Maybe she'll go to Guam or Saipan one thinking thinking they are part of Japan? Oops someone already did that ...

This could very much be a case of Japan heading off any US criticism at the pass. With the President in town, followed by the media cavalcade, Japan has probably been worried that having this case on the books might cause some embarrassing questions to be asked. As such, by giving this guy his freedom, Japan can now breath easy, without having to do anything to really address the underlying issues, namely its failure to ratify the Hague Convention, and its failure to hand over a number of Japanese nationals who remain as fugitives from US justice.

At the same time, however, although JT has repeatedly referred to Christopher Savoie as an American, the fact still remains that he at some time reportedly took out Japanese citizenship, and thus under various international conventions should at least be considered as a Japanese national for the purposes of Japanese law while he remains in this country. Moreover, while considering the issue of Japanese law, what is the government going to do with regard to this gentleman's supposed acquiring of Japanese citizenship, while also retaining his US passport (in breach of Japanese law). Have there been any developments on this front?

It is about Hague agreement. I think Japan should sign it personally. Not all countries sign it. Many many countries don't sign it. Japan is one of them. Japan doesn't want it. I think that she will never go to America and other territories, but she can go to France, Germany, etc. Japan will sign it someday years later. His case is dropped because Obama comes. That's political courtesy. However Savoie is still on the blacklist.

How can the USA or any American possibly find themselves fit to criticize Japan on Children's rights issues. The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Children was ratified by 193 countries including every member of the United Nations EXCEPT the United States and Somalia.

In case some of you haven't figured it out yet, a lot of those girls get sent abroad because they are too nuts to be here. If this guy was horny and foolish enough to get mixed up with this girl, he should certainly count himself lucky to be rid of her and his hellspawn.

It is very likely that she planned everything out very carefully from reeling him in, to getting pregnant, to having him arrested at the embassy gate.

I find it hard to believe that after all his experience, he still hasn't gotten any wiser. Go home, Chris, and count your blessings.

It puts them up there with countries like North Korea

Exactely! They can't critisize NK if they don't feel obligated to follow rest of the worlds opinions. Can I say whling?

Now the US court should order an injuction against the Japanese government until the arrest warrant is honored by Noriko's extradition to the US for prosecution. Freeze some of Japan's assets in the US, and I bet she will be on a plane to the US in no time...

Japan should have put him on the Interpol most wanted list.

where he could join his wife, who's been on it for awhile

Whats the deal with this marry a Japanese woman only to have her take your haafu kids back to her native Japan? Its like a tried and true method to make American men look extrememly stupid. Anyway, all the best with Chris...he needs to get his kids back, full custody.

His wife and kids won't be able to leave Japan for all intents and purposes (although I suppose there ae countries that won't cooperate with an extradition request)..

Whats the deal with this marry a Japanese woman only to have her take your haafu kids back to her native Japan?

Most white guys do that for getting spouse Visa. Then they get tired of Japan, no fun anymore, and they leave taking away their children. Sad and pitiful, but happens all the time. No sympathy at all for that father, feel bad for the mother though.

Why japan don't have any respect towards Americans and it's law. Japan must send noriko back to america with her children.Because she broke the Govt rule of America. Japan has no rights to protect any criminals who kidnaped two kids from US.Fight for your kids America. We support you. I want to see my four kids from two mothers.GOD BLESS AMERICA.

@saeiry -- What do you mean by Most white guys do that for getting spouse Visa?? I don't agree with you.. Sure there ARE people who marry Japanese for visa, but majority are not white men, or men from western countries.

Why can't two people talk and make sure the kids get access to both parents?? It's not all about law, it's about the two people who had kids together. I know many of you don't trust Japanese women, but there ARE many Japanese women who make sure that the fathers get access to their kids after divorce. Those cases are of course not reported so you don't see that but not all Japanese women take away kids from fathers.

Having said that, I still think Japan should sign the Hague Convention.

Now the US court should order an injuction against the Japanese government until the arrest warrant is honored by Noriko's extradition to the US for prosecution. Freeze some of Japan's assets in the US, and I bet she will be on a plane to the US in no time...

Bwahahahah! This is hilarious.

Jacky1289, didn't you learn after the first failure?

And Alargo is obviously referring to the wrong case, as his words have no similarity to the story behind this article whatsoever. And perhaps he should be careful before suggesting that the Japanese women who go to America or elsewhere are told to do it because they're nuts. He has no evidence to support this and is blatantly being racist.

Now the US court should order an injuction against the Japanese government until the arrest warrant is honored by Noriko's extradition to the US for prosecution. Freeze some of Japan's assets in the US, and I bet she will be on a plane to the US in no time...

Bwahaha indeed. Although maybe not for the same reasons as Presto. The US ordering any injunctions against Japan would basically throw all the progress since WWII out of the window. The US military could/should be summarily kicked out, forcing Japan to transform it's ridiculed SDF into a military capable of fighting back if attacked. They'd probably have to introduce conscription into the military as standard too, or they wouldn't have enough.

If the US insist on having the woman, Japan can change it's mind about charging the man and insist on an exchange. Would that do the kids any good?

shield Japanese women and their children fleeing abusive foreign husbands.

Japan is still ringing the victim bell. In my experience it is the Japanese women who are abusive and conniving using their kids as a means to take revenge on their ex-spouses.

In my experience it is the Japanese women who are abusive and conniving using their kids as a means to take revenge on their ex-spouses.

Personal experience? Won't make a dent in the statistics.

I totally agree with presto345 that Japanese women who abduct children are abusive, conniving, deceptive, greedy, manipulative, insecure, selfish. The reason they abduct children is because they know they can get away with it, in fact, the government encourages abduction by protecting them. In my opinion, Japan is worse than North Korea when it comes to abduction. Furthermore, I concur with presto345 that the reason Japanese women abduct "their kids" (in reality the children are only half "their kids") is to take revenge on their ex-spouses. What they don't realize is that they are hurting their own children by denying them their inherent right to know both of their parents, as well as hurting their ex-spouse and the entire family of their ex-spouse. I condemn any and every Japanese woman who has abducted their children in order to punish their ex-spouse. I also condemn the Japanese government for condoning it! If Japan wants to join the civilized world it should sign the Hague convention immediately and start abiding by and respecting international law. If Japan does not sign the Hague Convention, then it will remain an uncivilized island nation with no laws, ethics or morality.

So many Western Men marry Japanese for a Spouse Visa to live in Japan it is not funny. I know of 1 African American who was married to a Japanese Friend and claimed to love her but was always cheating with half a dozen other women when she was working nights at the hospital. 2 other females have kids to this low life pond scum who refuses to pay child maintenance. On investigation this person it was discovered he is wanted in the USA for not paying child maintenance to his American x-wife, funny thing is he tells everyone he use to be a New York Police Officer. He is hiding out here in Japan and got married so he was not forced to return to the USA were he would be arrested, as soon as he got his PR Visa he divorced his wife. This is why so many Japanese look down on international marriages. I agree with the mothers bring their children back to Japan. If the marriage fails and the mother wants to return to Japan and her family then she should bring her children with her, a child needs its mother more than it father. Christopher Savoie should be deported end of story!

FatherTed, you comment is wrong more American men would be abusive, conniving, deceptive, greedy, manipulative, insecure, selfish and child molesters then Japanese Women.

How many American fathers beat, molest, rape or kill their own off spring?

Leaving a child in the hands of an abusive father in the US or in the hands of a loving mother in Japan, I would give the child to the mother. The mothers never try and claim child maintenance from the fathers, the mothers just want to live in peace without the abuse the husband caused to her and most likely the child.

The biggest reason for international marriages to divorce in Japan is because of the gaikokujin husband assaulting/raping his Japanese wife or because the father was cheating on her.

I understand a Japanese Mother wanting to return to Japan with her children instead of leaving them with a husband that was abusive towards her and most likely the children or was cheating on the wife, how can you trust someone that cheats, you have no morals if you are married and cheat and a child left in the hands of someone that cheats would also grow up with no morals.

If the American husband assaults his Japanese wife who he claims to love then you can put money on it he is assaulting his half Japanese child.

The reason why the American fathers want to keep the children is so they can try and claim child maintenance in the US family courts from the Japanese Mothers.

The US courts should look at why the marriage ended and if it was because of domestic violence then the father should be banned from ever seeing the children and ordered to keep away and not to contact the mother, child or mothers family. Once an abuser always an abuser!

newjapanese,

what would you say if the wife was foreign and the husband japanese? what if that japanese husband cheated, beated, raped, abused, manipulated and death-threatened the foreign wife?? and on top of that, the japanese husband ran away with their 1 year old baby boy?? what if the wife lost custody after divorced and spent years without having any contact with her baby?? tell me how would you feel??

Most people think this is issue is about left-behind fathers, but every now and then...it's the mother who gets to suffer this nightmare. Japanese or Foreign, the mother will always be irreplaceable!!