COCONUT CREEK, Fla. – A South Florida woman drove home Tuesday after picking up her nephew from Leesburg, where he was taken by his mother who does not have custody of him, authorities said.
Stephanie Kiley, who has temporary custody of her nephew, hugged Julian Kiley, 5, and smiled for cameras when they were reunited Monday night in Leesburg.
Coconut Creek police said Julian's mother, Tiffany Kiley, 29, kidnapped her son early Monday morning from her sister's home in the 4100 block of Northwest 62nd Court.
Tiffany Kiley, who authorities said is battling drug addiction, later called in during a custody hearing for her son in Broward County and told a judge that she didn't want to go to jail.
"I'm scared. I don't want to go to jail. I just want to get my kid home," Kiley said on the phone. "I was going to go to the police station."
Coconut Creek police said Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents met Kiley and a man with whom she was driving, Ronald Rouse, and took her to the Lake County Jail. She is expected to be charged with interference with the custody of a minor and burglary of an occupied dwelling.
Rouse has not been arrested.
Julian was found in good condition and was handed over to his aunt by investigators from the Florida Department of Children and Families.
The boy's family is glad to have him home, and said that the Amber Alert system, coupled with social media, helped bring Julian home.