Teenager Kidnapped in Forced Abortion Bid Wants Her Parents Punished 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 27, 2006
Portland, ME (LifeNews.com) — The pregnant Maine teenager whose parents kidnapped her at gunpoint and tried to take her to New York to force her to have an abortion wants her parents to be punished for their crimes. She made the comments through her attorney.
Lawyer Sarah Churchill told the Associated Press that Katelyn Kampf "has made known her position of what happened to law enforcement and she just wants the criminal process to see its way through so they can be punished for what they have done."
Nicholas and Lola Kampf, stand accused of kidnapping their daughter and trying to force to have an abortion. The pair face up to 30 years in prison on the charges, though prosecutors have said they will pursue a lighter sentence.
Thomas Hallett, the lawyer who’s representing the Kampfs, disputes Katelyn’s description of what happened, saying her parents were only trying to help her.
He told the Portland Press Herald that Katelyn was an "emotionally immature and volatile child" who "lashed out" at her parents after they offered to help her.
Hallett also alleged that Katelyn and her parents were on the "same page" about the abortion and that Katelyn suggested a place in Massachusetts where she could have the abortion done.
But Churchill retorted that Hallett’s comments were "quite upsetting" and that Katelyn stands by her statements that she did not want an abortion and her parents were attempting to force her to have one.
"There are two sides to every story," Churchill said. "I believe that it’s Katie’s story in the end that’s going to prevail."
Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson filed the charges against the Kampfs and then New Hampshire state officials dropped theirs so the case could proceed in Maine. The pair both posted $100,000 bail last week on the New Hampshire charges and have turned themselves in on the Maine charges.
Anderson said the parents have indicated they were concerned about the baby’s father, 22 year-old Reme Johnson. He began serving a 6-month jail sentence for theft two weeks ago in Maine and has previous felony convictions.
"I think the parents were concerned that he had a criminal record and that he was serving a criminal jail sentence," Anderson told AP. "I think that motivated their desire to unentangle their daughter from a lifelong relationship with this man."
However, Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion told the Associated Press that Katelyn Kamp, the daughter, said her parents wanted her to have an abortion because Johnson is black.
Dion previously indicated that Katelyn said her mother "was pretty irate at the fact that the child’s father was black, and she had made a number of disparaging remarks about that."
He said the Kampfs had treated Katelyn’s boyfriend well until they received a phone call from her last Thursday indicating she was pregnant. That apparently "changed the dynamic" he said.
Dion indicated Katelyn told him her mother "kept referring to the baby as a thing, as ‘It,’ and there were other comments made."
Johnson’s mother, Peggy Johnson, told the Boston Globe that Katelyn is telling the truth about what happened.
"She has no reason to lie. They found all the stuff in the car. She would not have gone with them," she said.
Katelyn has received a restraining order preventing her parents from contacting her and is staying with the Johnson family.
The Kampfs allegedly used a shotgun to forcibly abduct their daughter. They tied her up with rope and loaded her into the back seat of their car. But police said she was able to get one of her parents’ cell phones and called police when her parents thought she was using the restroom.
When police nabbed the Kampfs, they found rope, duct tape, scissors and a .22-caliber rifle in the vehicle. Nicholas had a loaded .22-caliber magazine clip in the pockets of his pants.
Police said a physical fight led to the kidnapping.
The Kampfs, who formerly owned the State Theater in Portland, thought the abortion should be done in New York because the baby was in late stages of pregnancy.
The couple’s attorney told AP that there is no evidence the Kampfs harmed their daughter or her unborn baby.
"What we’re dealing with here is a terrible family tragedy with some unfortunate misunderstandings and some overreaction, perhaps on all sides — but not an attempt to terrorize anybody," the attorney said at the arraignment.
The incident comes at a time when Congress has passed legislation to prohibit non-parents from taking a minor teenager across state lines for an abortion. The bill has been approved by both the House and Senate, but Senate Democrats used a procedural motion to prevent a final version of the bill from going to President Bush for his signature.
