MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A 48-year-old father accepted a plea deal on Friday for the 2022 kidnapping of his 6-year-old son from Miami-Dade County to Canada.
As part of the plea deal, Jorge Morales pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping, removing a child from the state, and interference with custody.
Jorge “Jojo” Morales, Jr., is now 9 years old and a fourth-grade student who lives with autism spectrum disorder. His mother, Yanet Leal, said he lives in fear.
“He realizes that everything he went through was far from a vacation,” Leal said while reading a statement via Zoom. “Jojo deserves a childhood that is free from fear of losing his mom and his routine, and in the meantime, we will continue to pray and go to therapy to overcome this.”
Morales was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by a 10-year probation. Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Jason Block ordered Morales to stay away from his son, to undergo a mental health evaluation, and recommended inpatient facility treatment.
“Sorry for what you and your family have had to go through, and I wish you and your son peace and joy for many, many, many years,“ Block told Leal during the hearing.
The boy vanished on Aug. 27, 2022, with Morales, then 45, and his paternal grandmother, Lilliam Pena Morales, then 68, according to Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies.
“No parent should ever endure the fear, the panic, and the helplessness that I felt when my son and I were ripped apart,” Leal said.
The U.S. Border Patrol found Morale’s abandoned pickup truck in Littleton, Maine, according to the U.S. Marshals, who were also involved in the search.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police rescued the boy after a witness reported seeing him with his father and grandmother on Oct. 30, 2022, at a Walmart in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
“To those who had the courage to make the phone call that brought my child back into my arms, we could never repay your kindness,” Leal said. “We will owe you for the rest of our lives.”
Morales has been behind bars without bond since Nov. 16, 2022, and as part of the plea deal, will get credit for time served in the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office case. Morales also had a pending Homestead Police Department case with Bloch that prosecutors filed on Feb. 3, 2020, for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and culpable negligence.
Inmate records show Morales was at the Metrowest Detention Center. Last year, Lilliam Pena Morales also agreed to a plea deal and was sentenced to 10 years of probation.
Watch Leal’s statement in court during Morales’s sentencing
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