(GMA)
Kelly Rutherford is fighting back at claims she “kidnapped” her two young children when she failed to return them to their father in Monaco. As Gossip Cop reported, Rutherford and her ex-husband Daniel Giersch have been in a bitter custody battle over their children Hermes, 8, and Helena, 6, since 2009. The “Gossip Girl” actress has been in and out of court over the years trying to have her kids return to the U.S. and live with her.
Rutherford spent the summer in New York with her children, but was supposed to send them back to Monaco, where Giersch lives, last week. The actress, however, kept the children, leading some to accuse her of kidnapping. Earlier this week, a Manhattan judge ordered Rutherford to immediately send the kids back to their father.
“I think kidnapping is when no one knows where the children are,” said Rutherford on Friday’s “Good Morning America.” She added, “I was in communication. The kids were Skypeing with [Giersch] every day. I wrote him an email telling him exactly that nobody had jurisdiction in my country, and I was concerned until somebody gave me some order that said they were coming back.”
Rutherford said she’s still “trying to process” and “make sense” of the court’s decision to send her kids back to Monaco. “I just feel like their voices have not been heard,” explained Rutherford, adding, “I walked into a courtroom where everything felt like it was already done. It was a done deal.” She continued, “[Giersch’s] mother was sitting there with plane tickets, smiling, ready to take them. Nobody had heard our argument.”
As Gossip Cop previously noted, Rutherford is scheduled to fly to Monte Carlo next month for another custody hearing. The actress told “Good Morning America” she’s very happy with the courts in Monaco, but finds it “odd” how the U.S. has been handling her situation. “New York just sent them back. It was a very odd, you know, odd situation. I think that Monaco has been put in this position because of the decisions that have been made here in the U.S.”
