In 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice reported an average of 200,000 cases of parental kidnapping each year. More than just the byproduct of a nasty custody dispute, parental kidnapping--defined as one parent taking his or her child and denying access of the child to the other parent--represents a form of child abuse that has sometimes resulted in the sale, abandonment and even death of children. This candid exploration of parental kidnapping in America from the eighteenth century to the present clarifies many misconceptions and reveals how the external influences of American social, political, legal, and religious culture can exacerbate family conflict, creating a social atmosphere ripe for abduction.

A look at the history of child kidnappings and abductions in the United States, the motives of the perpetrators, the activities of the media, and the results in the law and in public opinions.

What happens when a child is kidnapped from home by his or her own parent? What are the emotional and psychological consequences of living in hiding for weeks, months, or even years for a child? How does the parent left behind cope with having no knowledge of the child’s whereabouts or well-being? And what could lead a parent to inflict such a painful existence on his or her own child?

Recent stories of long-term abduction have flooded our current news. Everyone wants to know why children stay with their captor even when opportunity presents itself. The media scrambles to get expert and eye witness interviews. We place the child in front of a camera to get that smile of relief. We fail to look deeper and ask the real important questions. The young boy stands there confused and afraid. They have just been ripped from all they know, captivity. That is all about to change. In reading the life story of a former abducted child and revisiting one of the first national cases of child stealing in America, Throwing Stones; Parental Child Abduction Through the Eyes of a Child gives a dark narrative look into the life of a seven year old boy ripped from all he knows, and later returned to a life of hell at the age of eleven. His baby was brother raised to hate a woman he was too young to know. His older sister consumed with her own inner turmoil turns violently on him. Left alone to find his own way he befriends anyone who will give him a sense of self worth. A peaceful and quiet child at the beginning; little Kenny learns to lie, steal and attack anyone who he thinks is a threat. Scared to trust anyone, Kenny goes inward to protect himself. Infected with an internal struggle to hold on to dying memories of a loving mother ripped from him, he gives in. After many lies, little Kenny starts to protect the man he fears most, his Father. Regardless of his outward environment, he finds hope and strength from within. Clear and sobering, this is long overdue. No other book has been written from the childs perspective concerning Child Theft. This case takes place before there was the National Center for the Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). His abduction was the first to involve a multi-state-manhunt and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.