The father of Jorge "JoJo" Morales, the 6-year-old Miami boy with autism who was found in Canada months after he went missing, denies he kidnapped his son.
On Tuesday, JoJo’s father, whose name is also Jorge Morales, was in court asking for a judge to dismiss the kidnapping charge.
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
WATCH HERE
“My client Jorge had the legal right to take the child at the moment he had the child. He just failed to return the child,” said Jay White, Morales’s attorney. “In my opinion, that is not kidnapping.”
Morales, along with his mother Lilliam Morales, were charged for taking the child from Miami and kidnapping him to Canada on Aug. 27, 2022.
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP
Both were taken into custody by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Oct. 30, 2022, after JoJo was found with his father at a Walmart in New Brunswick.
White claims his client is only guilty of custodial interference and failing to return the child after lawful visits.
“This is something that I hope the court understands. It happens on the daily basis," White said during argument.
While chuckling, Judge Miguel M de la O responded, “That’s a stretch.”
“Sometimes they keep them past 9:30, but they don’t plan and take them to Canada," he added.
Judge de la O denied the motion to dismiss.
Yanet Concepcion, Jo Jo’s mother, was grateful the judge did not dismiss the charge.
”Definitely, it was a kidnapping. There was a preparation for more than a year. There were letters sent with intent of not coming back," she said.
Previous coverage
Concepcion told NBC6 that her now 8-year-old son is doing well and going to therapy after the incident.
Recently, her little boy Googled his name.
“(He) kind of took a glance on what was going on and he didn’t understand he’s autistic, but he just looked at me and said, 'My dad is a bad guy,' and I just looked at him and told him people make mistakes," she said.
Concepcion is unsure what an ideal punishment would be for her ex but hopes he stays away.
“We just feel safe without him around,” she said.
Morales now hopes state attorneys offer him a plea deal with some sort of community control or probation. However, if convicted in a trial, the 47-year-old could be sentenced to life in prison.
Morales's mother accepted a deal in February where prosecutors agreed to drop a kidnapping charge against her in exchange for her pleading guilty to one count of removing a child from the state and one count of custody interference.
Lilliam Morales was released and sentenced to 10 years of probation.
