Father of Kidnapped Children Taken to Egypt Awarded $3 Million by US Court

    ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md., April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- A Maryland Court of
 Appeals upheld a jury's decision on Wednesday, granting Michael Shannon
 over 3 million dollars in punitive and compensatory damages. The decision
 is stemming from visitation interference against Shannon's ex-wife and
 mother-in-law, after they abducted their two sons to Egypt. This is a
 groundbreaking case and is the first successful case in the US filed over
 an international kidnapping and is precedent setting.
 
     International fathers' rights attorney Jeffery M. Leving, who is
 coordinating all litigation in the US and Egypt for the father, said this
 verdict is part of his strategy to put pressure on the mother to return the
 children. Leving has also retained Egyptian counsel to persuade the
 Egyptian court in Cairo to recognize and enforce Mr. Shannon's custody
 orders entered in a US court.
 
     "The decision was closure to six years of criminal and civil court
 dates. Throughout, [I] have yet to be once on the 'losing' side of any
 judge or jury's outcome. Yet the changes in the state and federal law have
 done nothing for my family or sons. [The] only solace is they all know --
 or will someday know the extraordinary efforts gone to recover the boys,
 and that we have never stopped thinking of them ... " says Mr. Shannon.
 
     The court opinion, written by Judge Lynne A. Battaglia, says the
 Khalifas "Consciously and knowingly have deprived a father of the love and
 comfort of his two children for an extended period of time." The opinion
 also stated that Mr. Shannon will never be fully compensated for the time
 he has lost with his children.
 
     Jeffery M. Leving is representing Mr. Shannon and working closely with
 Shannon's counsel in Maryland. Leving is coordinating all efforts and
 contacts between Shannon and his Egyptian attorney, who will represent him
 at trial for his pending appeal in Egypt to attempt to convince the
 Egyptian court to order the mother to return the boys to the US. The boy's
 mother, who has dual citizenship in Egypt and the US, will face criminal
 charges if she returns to the US. The ex-wife's mother was convicted of
 kidnapping and incarcerated in Maryland, but was recently deported to
 Egypt.
 
     Shannon v. Khalifa will have a significant effect on the future of
 parental rights. Not only is this case a victory for Mr. Shannon, but it's
 a victory for parents who have had their children abducted and taken out of
 the United States," says Fathers' Rights attorney Jeffery M. Leving. Leving
 went on to say this decision should be a warning to anyone who interferes
 with a parent's visitation rights. He says in addition to contempt or other
 sanctions, the wrongdoer could now face the prospect of having to pay a
 fortune.
 
     Jeffery Leving is available for comment. Please contact his media
 coordinator, Danielle Masterson, at (312) 730-5864 or Jennifer Whiteside at
 (312) 296-3666.
 
 
 

SOURCE Law offices of Jeffery M. Leving, Ltd.