The ongoing custody battle between actress Kelly Rutherford and ex husband Daniel Giersch has taken yet another ugly turn after the businessman accused the Gossip Girl star of ‘child abduction’.
Son Hermes, 8, and daughter Helen, 6, were due to fly back to Monaco to live with their father, but Kelly, 46, has insisted that they stay with her in California.
Daniel’s lawyer Fahi Takesh Hallin told E! News: “Daniel will continue to protect the children from any harm and any media exposure.”
He continued: “Unfortunately Kelly has now added child abduction to extortion and false statements on her list of actions.
“Daniel will make sure that the children's safety and well being will be restored as soon as possible.
“He is very concerned about the traumatic impact that Kelly's behavior will have on the children.”
“Child abduction is a crime, and everyone involved in kidnapping or abducting the children will face the appropriate legal consequences. Anyone associating themselves with Kelly and her abduction is violating the law.”
Kelly said in her own statement to People magazine: “These past three years waiting for my children to come home have been very difficult.
“My children were forced to leave the United States in 2012 when they were only two and five years old.”
She continued: “In May, a judge in California gave me sole custody and brought them home.
“I am immensely grateful and overjoyed to have them back. Since May, however, the court proceedings have been confusing.
“The fact that neither state is claiming jurisdiction, means no state in this country is currently protecting my children.
“It also means that no state in this country currently requires me to send the children away.
“Hence, I have decided that I cannot lawfully send my children away from the United States to live in a foreign country.”
Celebrities such as Gossip Girl co-star Ed Westwick and Kim Kardashian's manager Jonathan Cheban have shown their support for Kelly and her legal plight as the custody battle continues to ensue.
Hermes and Helena were ordered to move to Monaco when Daniel’s US Visa was revoked.
In an attempt to see her children, Kelly has flow between Monaco and the US a reported 70 times.
Kelly hopes that her children will soon be able to live with her on a more permanent basis in the United States.
She said: “I pray that officials in this country and in Monaco will agree that three years in exile is a very long time in a child's life, and that my children have a right to remain, once and for all, in the United States.”
The custody battle continues.