DENVER — A Colorado girl convicted of plotting to kidnap her son from foster care after associating with supporters of the Qanon conspiracy concept was sentenced Thursday to 60 days in jail and two years of supervised probation, after being reprimanded by the choose for a scarcity of regret.
Given an opportunity to talk and take duty, Cynthia Abcug, 53, as an alternative stated she was glad her son was doing nicely and requested District Choose Patricia Herron to offer her probation so she may proceed getting remedy, working and finding out for a regulation diploma.
That drew a robust rebuke from Herron, who stated Abcug nonetheless sees herself as a sufferer and will pose a hazard once more due to that mindset.
“I don’t hear a single phrase from you on the affect you had on the foster household by placing that plan in place,” stated Herron, noting that the shortage of accountability could possibly be due to authorized appeals she is pursuing.
Herron added that she didn’t discover Abcug’s testimony on the August trial credible. In her testimony, Abcug denied she was concerned in planning a raid on the foster residence the place her then 7-year-old son lived within the fall of 2019. She had misplaced custody of him earlier that 12 months after being accused of medical little one abuse — allegedly mendacity about him having seizures and different well being issues with a purpose to trick medical doctors into offering pointless care.
A jury convicted her of misdemeanor little one abuse due to these allegations in addition to conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping.
Prosecutors stated the boy, now 10, hasn’t skilled any severe well being issues since being taken away from Abcug.
The boy’s foster mom, Julia Plotke, stated the boy will likely be coping with the trauma brought on by how he was handled for the remainder of his life. As well as, after authorities had been tipped off to the plot, police escorted her to choose up the boy and her different youngsters at college they usually needed to keep in a resort for weeks, she stated.
“I don’t assume 60 days will come near coping with what we’ve to cope with,” stated Plotke, who added that she believes the chance to her household continues.
Herron known as baseless a earlier declare by Abcug that social employees had been getting hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to take youngsters from their properties and that the kid welfare system was “damaged.” She stated the reality was they had been attempting to assist Abcug’s son.
Herron stated she wished to condemn Abcug to jail however determined in opposition to it as a result of it’d truly result in her getting launched quicker and with out strict circumstances of supervision as soon as she is out for the reason that kidnapping plot, which wasn’t carried out, isn’t thought-about a violent crime.
If Abcug fails to indicate as much as begin her jail time period subsequent week or full her probation, Herron’s sentence would then permit Abcug to be despatched to jail.
Throughout trial, Abcug testified that after her son was eliminated in Might 2019 she was extraordinarily anxious and reached out on social media for assist in getting her son again. She advised jurors she ended up assembly members of a bunch that stated it was engaged on reforming the household court docket system and supplied to assist her get her son again legally. She stated it turned out to be a rip-off with members focused on stealing cash raised on-line to assist dad and mom who had misplaced custody of their youngsters.
She didn’t describe the group as being concerned with QAnon however stated she heard references to the conspiracy concept by folks she met by way of her activism on-line.
Many QAnon supporters imagine former President Donald Trump was combating enemies within the so-called deep state to reveal a bunch of satanic, cannibalistic little one molesters they imagine secretly runs the globe.
The conspiracy concept was not a primary difficulty within the trial, which centered extra on detailed testimony from medical suppliers and educators about Abcug son’s medical historical past.
