Woman Whose Parents Kidnapped Her for Forced Abortion Speaks Out

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Dec 11, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Woman Whose Parents Kidnapped Her for Forced Abortion Speaks Out Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 11,
2007

Portland, ME (LifeNews.com) — A young woman whose parents kidnapped her and tried to drive her from Maine to New York City for an abortion is speaking up for the first time since their sentencing. Katelyn Kampf’s parents Nicholas and Lola acknowledged their guilt to lesser charges but escaped jail time on the more serious violations.

Under the agreement, the Kampfs pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct charges and had felony kidnapping charges dismissed.

As long as the Kampfs follow the court’s request to receive proper counseling the assault charges will be dismissed as well.

The Kampf’s tied Katelyn’s hands and feet at gunpoint and put her in the back of their car. She was able to flee after using the restroom and grabbed her parents’ cell phone to alert police.

On "Good Morning America" today Katelyn, 20, talked about what happened and how she "lost" her parents.

Katelyn told ABC News interviewer Chris Cuomo that events unfolded because her boyfriend Reme, a black man from South Africa, was the father of the child. She accused the Kampfs of racism.

That’s why she waited until she was six months into the pregnancy to inform her parents.

"They were a little bit racist, to be honest," she said.

Kampf told ABC News about the kidnapping and the attempt to force her to have an abortion.

"I tried to leave the house and that’s pretty much where the physical part started, and they tried to pull me back into the house and keep me from leaving," she explained. "My dad restrained me on the floor and my mom walked in from the kitchen holding a rope."

Kampf says they forced her into the vehicle without telling her of their destination. She tells ABC that they "called a place, a clinic in New York and scheduled an abortion."

At a bathroom at a KMart in New Hampshire, Katelyn made her break.

"I said I had to use the bathroom. I waited maybe 10 seconds as [my dad] went into the bathroom next door and then I just bolted out and I asked the store clerk what the name of the street was in front of the building, and I called the cops," she explained.

New Hampshire police officers found items used to tie up Katelyn and marks on her body consistent with having been bound and gagged.

Regarding the plea agreement her parents entered, Katelyn says she is still shocked and disappointed they received no jail time for their actions.

"I feel like they barely got a slap on the wrist, if that," Katelyn said.

"I feel like my parents should have been looked at as just any other individual. It shouldn’t have been made into a family matter because it was still a crime," she told the ABC television program.

Katelyn says her baby, Diandre, is doing well.

She said, "it hurts a lot to look at him and just think that somebody wouldn’t want him here."