Teen discovers his real identity when applying to college

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By JAY REEVES and JOHN P. COYNE

VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. (AP) — An Ohio teenager applying to college discovered some startling things about himself because of a discrepancy involving his Social Security number: His real name. And that he was allegedly snatched from his mother in Alabama by his father when he was 5.

Father and son were discovered living under assumed names this week in Cleveland, where by all accounts 18-year-old Julian Hernandez was an excellent student and had been well cared for. The father, Bobby Hernandez, 53, was arrested and faces charges that could send him to prison for a decade or more.

Authorities are still trying to piece together what happened to the boy over the 13 years he was missing. But some of the bare facts are known: He vanished from his mother's home in the Birmingham area in 2002, his father leaving a note saying he had taken the child, according to authorities. The couple were not married.

Over the years, police investigated hundreds of possible sightings across the country. The break in the case didn't come until the son started applying to college.

FULL story at link.


This undated photo provided by Cuyahoga County Prosecutors Office shows Bobby Hernandez. Hernandez is charged with tampering with records in Ohio to get a driver's license and that police say he'll face abduction charges in Alabama. Authorities say Julian Hernandez was 5 when his mother reported him missing, and he's now 18. They say he had apparently been living in Ohio under an assumed name with his father, Bobby Hernandez. (Cuyahoga County Prosecutors Office via AP)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/b82e70af954f4ec1b243c683229a6e55/teen-discovers-his-real-identity-when-applying-college

[Demeter]

1. One good use of government personal records--doesn't forgive all the bad ones, though

That poor boy, his whole world's turning upside down, just on the brink of college....

[trillion]

27. That poor childs mom. Imagine what she went through.

They both got cheated.

[ffr]

2. It would seem that he's not a hardened criminal or a 3 strikes one either

So why throw the book at him. See what the mother says. If she doesn't press charges, it's probably far far far better for this kid to have a parent who can help support him through college, then to make an example of the father and risk the boy not being able to go or complete college. After all, I'm sure the father had something to do with the boy wanting to go to college. if not directly, indirectly; values. That would suggest he's always been interested in his future and is probably a good parent.

I'd really be curious to know who the mother is, her situation and how she feels about all this. Hope for the boy's sake the court goes lenient, depending on the mother's position, rather than full tilt to-the-extent-of-the-law.

[CBGLuthier]

3. I do not think it is a matter of pressing charges when a child is kidnapped.

He broke the law and denied a mother and son the experiences they should have had.

GOOD PARENTS do not kidnap their children from their other parent.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

4. He might have done the best for the kid

We have no idea what the mother was or is like.

[CBGLuthier]

5. Doesn't matter. If she was unfit he should have taken it to court.

[Drahthaardogs]

21. Yeah cause that works

Especially 20 years ago...

[trillion]

31. 20 years ago it worked as good as it does not. Of course if you're a sexist with knee jerk reactions

on women you might come up with this crazy blanket statement idea of how the courts work.

[Drahthaardogs]

32. No it didn't. Sorry to burst but your bubble, but it did not work that way 20 years ago.

If we are playing out the scenario that the father acted in the best interest of the son because mommy was a loon (which I have no idea is true or not, just the scenario some one up above posted), the courts were pretty sexist 20 years ago. I remember one judge in a rather infamous case talking about never seeing a calf try to suckle a bull...

Why do people always want to re-invent history to fit their politically correct wannabe world? It didn't happen that way 20,30, 40 years ago. Sorry. Facts are facts and it makes me a realist, not a sexist.

[geek tragedy]

13. You're trying to justify kidnapping and stealing the kid's relationship with is own

mother.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

17. i have known kids who were burned with cigarettes by their mother to "drive out evil spirits"

We do not know the situation the child was in, and may never find out, but some kids need to be removed from the parent. It also may have been best to "go through the court system" as the other reply states, but we do not know what was happening among all involved.

[geek tragedy]

18. you're not seeing the trouble with parental kidnapping? nt

[truedelphi]

19. I agree. I mean, it is necessary to look at these things case by case,

But in Marin County Calif, a woman had to go to jail for kidnapping charges, after she took the child away from the father that was sexually abusing the kid.

Then the truth finally came out - years later, when the father killed his new wife (or live in partner, I forget which.) And at that point, the poor woman finally got out of jail and was reunited with the daughter.

But the sad thing was, the woman faced higher criminal charges, higher bail requirements etc, than she would have if it had been a stranger abduction!

All across the USA, the parent who has the better financial resources gets to win in court, regardless of whether they are abusive or negligent. The family court systems are corrupt beyond belief.

[LanternWaste]

22. I imagine most kidnappers apply the your sentiment too.

I imagine most kidnappers apply the your sentiment too.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

24. In this case it is the childs father, not just one of "most kidnappers"

and the boy, now 18 and applying for college seems to have been well raised.

[trillion]

29. Actually, you're missing way too much.

Most likely the dad kidnapped the kid during a divorce and the mother would have been fine raising him.

I was also kidnapped by my father when I was 5 during a divorce. My brother, sister and I were found when a friend of my mom's recognized my dad and us at a beach and called the police, after we'd been gone weeks. My mother had a nervous break down over it. you must be one hell of a sexist woman hater. This creep should have gone through the justice system if he wanted his kid, instead he took off and lived illegally. If it was an unfit mom it was up to this creep to take that to court. AND we have no reason to believe the mom is unfit at this point.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

34. Guess you didn't read the article, it said they were not married. nt

[davidpdx]

6. I tend to agree with you

I had just read the story on Yahoo. The really bad cases are the ones were there are parents from two different countries.

[PassingFair]

9. He should get LIFE just for renaming the kid...

JAY MANGINA.

[geek tragedy]

11. He's a kidnapper. Kidnapping is a very, very grave offense. nt

[trillion]

28. Yeah, right, he's living under a fake name and raising the kid with a fake name for no reason.

oh wait!

[OldHippieChick]

33. Can't help but think you are male

and have no idea what the mother went thru all these years. He kept this child from his mother for 13 years. He deserves every book they can throw at him. What a vile creature to do this to his child.

[mhatrw]

7. Throw this kid's father in jail for illegally raising him and throw away the key!

That will definitely make everything all better for this kid.

[geek tragedy]

12. maybe it will deter the next kidnapper. The dad stole the kid's relationship with his mother from

the kid. That's sick.

[mhatrw]

14. dad is bad. dad screwed kid.

But in a perfect world, kid and mother should decide whether dad goes to jail or gets a civil penalty.

[StevieM]

16. Think about the position that what put the mother in. If she is the one who makes the decision

to press charges then her son might blame her for jailing the only parent he has known for 13 years.

It isn't fair to place her in that position, because either she could alienate her son, or the father could be let off.

This is a serious crime with real victims. The boy grew up without a mother's love. And this woman suffered a trauma that no woman should have to endure.

[LanternWaste]

23. Your perfect world seems predicated on sentiment rather than justice.

Your perfect world seems predicated on sentiment rather than justice.

[FLPanhandle]

8. I hate to think of the hell the mother went through for 13 years

I vote for jailing the father.

[StevieM]

15. Absolutely agreed. This poor woman must have been traumatized. (eom)

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

10. He could have been a stunt double for "The Fonz".

[Go Vols]

20. I got arrested for kidnapping and interstate flight

years ago after my kids mother took off with them to another state.I didn't call the law on her,I just went and got them and she called the law on me.

After a week in jail waiting extradition,blah,blah ....

I went back a week later with emergency custody papers and a cop and got my kids back,she ended up with 0 custody and no visitation.

Having kids will make you do some crazy shit if need be.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

25. Thanks for this post. I believe most people think mothers should have the kids,

but I know that is not always the case and some 'mothers' are not 'motherly.'

[djean111]

26. My grandson's mother never really bonded with him, and his father and I have raised him.

Pretty much all of his life. She does not even bother with Christmas and birthdays, and she lives about 10 minutes away.
Grandson is 20, is a great guy, and considers that his mother loves him, but is just not cut out to be a mother.

I did not have any contact with my own mother from age 6 until age 28, when my sister tracked her down. No violins or anything when I visited; she asked me if I could possibly get my bangs out of my eyes, it bothered her. She told my younger sister she had really only wanted me, to replace a baby who died at birth, and she had never wanted more children.
After she and my dad divorced, she had several children, gave them up for adoption.

My son and grandson and I are very close - and no, some women are not cut out to be mothers. None of the children my mother gave up for adoption would have been better off with her.

[trillion]

30. If the mothers unfit then take it to court. Stealing the kid is one heck of an indication that the

dad is the unfit person.