Moscow man faces federal court

COLFAX - The Federal Government is pursuing charges against a Moscow man who did not return his 2-year-old daughter to her mother in June.

Aaron Aung, 21, failed to return his daughter to her mother as scheduled by a court ordered parenting plan, according to reports.

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington Vanessa R. Waldref, announced on Friday, Aug. 2, that Aung was charged by criminal complaint on one count of International Parental Kidnapping during an arraignment in Federal Court.

The U.S. Attorney's Office reports, that according to the complaint made on June 3, Aung was supposed to travel to the Pullman Police Department for the custody exchange and failed to show.

Agents with the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) obtained photos of a vehicle Aung was allegedly driving which crossed into Mexico on June 1, at the Port of Entry near Andrade, Calif., states the news release.

According to a release from Whitman County Prosecutor Dan LeBeau on Wednesday, July 31, the Pullman Police Department, Moscow Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation worked diligently to locate Aung, who was found in Mexico with his fiancé Nadia Cole.

The U.S. Attorney's Office reported that the complaint further alleges that on July 4, Aung the victim and Cole were contacted by Mexican officials, with Cole later deported from Mexico to the United States.

On July 7, Aung and the victim were encountered by Mexican officials near the United States-Mexico border in Nogales, Mexico, and deported by Mexican officials to the Port of Entry near Nogales, Ariz., where they were presented to CBP officials, states the release

The report states that Aung was detained on an outstanding felony warrant issued out of Whitman County for custodial interference first degree.

"The arrest would not have been possible without the hard work of the Pullman and Moscow Police Departments, with special thanks to the FBI for their assistance in this manner," states the press release from the Whitman County Prosecuting Attorney Office.

Aung was booked into the Whitman County jail Wednesday, July 31, on U.S. Washington Eastern District Court title 18 U.S. Code Section(s) 1024; international parental kidnapping on an out of county warrant, according to public records.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office the case is being investigated by the FBI, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rebecca Perez and Michael J. Ellis.

"Children deserve to live in a world where they are safe, surrounded by adults who love and care for them," stated Waldref. "Our office prioritizes offenses against our community's youngest and most vulnerable victims and will continue to aggressively prosecute those who harm children."

According to the release, a complaint is an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.