Jeffery Chao Child Abduction Arrest and Charges: Statement from Annie Chao's attorney, Gregory E. Almas

PASADENA, Calif., July 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- I am Annie Chao's attorney in her divorce case, which was filed in April 2023.

On Friday, July 26, 2024, Jeffery Chao was arrested for child abduction and falsifying a police report by the Monterey Park Police Department. His arraignment was yesterday, and we learned that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office decided to file criminal felony and misdemeanor charges against Mr. Chao. 

At issue in the media and social media coverage of this case have been alleged abuse by my client of her daughter. All of the abuse allegations made against Annie and her father were determined to be not credible - both by the Los Angeles County Superior Court after a 15-day trial and by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office who declined to file any charges against Annie or her father. Both Annie and her father voluntarily testified and subjected themselves to cross-examination during the 15-day trial where the court determined the allegations against them were not credible.

The court's concerns that Alison was living in a harmful environment with Mr. Chao and that he was undermining Annie's relationship with Alison, caused Mr. Chao to lose physical custody. The court awarded Annie sole physical custody of Alison on July 16, 2024 and Mr. Chao was ordered by the court to turn over custody of Alison to Annie at 9:00 a.m. on July 17, 2024. Within hours of the court awarding Annie sole physical custody of Alison, Mr. Chao then reported Alison as "missing."

Now, thanks to the diligence of the Monterey Park Police Department, we know that Alison was never missing, but instead, abducted by her father. We are concerned that this misled the public and allowed thousands of concerned community members and volunteers from all over the Southland to search for Alison for days on end. It also permitted the Monterey Park Police Department to expend its limited resources over nearly a week on a search that was not needed.

Of additional concern is a GoFundMe campaign mounted on behalf of Mr. Chao is seeking $250,000 in donations and has amassed over $128,000 thus far. Despite public assertions to the contrary, the court found that Mr. Chao is not in financial need. The court already determined that he has superior financial resources to Annie.

Since this case came into the public spotlight, my client and her family have been subjected to a smear campaign, including the release of videos of Alison at her most vulnerable moments in an apparent attempt to portray Annie in a negative light. Annie and her family have received death threats, been subjected to racist attacks, and there have even been small businesses who have suffered from false and defamatory online reviews because social media users mistakenly believed the businesses were connected to my client's family. The spread of misinformation online has been counter to Alison's best interests, as was previously pointed out by her minor's counsel.

Again, my client and her family want to extend their thanks to the Monterey Park Police Department and Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office for their thorough investigation and complete examination of the facts of this case. They also want to thank the many individuals who have given their time to help Alison and to search for her.

SOURCE Law Offices of Gregory E. Almas