I was asked about this today and had to go find the story. We were into this case long ago-
Brian Christine leaving prison after 12 years
March 9, 2013, 12:17 p.m. PST
The News-Review
ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — Brian Christine is scheduled to be released from
prison next week after spending 12 years behind bars for kidnapping his
three daughters from child-welfare workers, a case that brought national
attention to the issue of parental rights.
Christine, took the girls at gunpoint near Myrtle Creek in 2001.
Christine, his wife Ruth and an accomplice were arrested days later in
Montana.
While awaiting trial, Ruth Christine appeared on NBC's "Today" show to
assert that the state had overstepped its authority by taking custody of
their children. The case also generated much interest from
anti-government and parental-rights activists on the Internet and talk
radio.
Originally from Indiana, the Christines had been traveling for a year in
a converted school bus when they rolled into Grants Pass, Ore., in the
summer of 2000.
An anonymous caller told police that the three girls appeared to be
starved and dehydrated. The state took the children into protective
custody after concluding they were in poor health.
In the ensuing months, the Christines fought with state officials and demanded their children back.
On Aug. 1, 2001, Brian Christine pointed a gun at two child-welfare
workers taking the girls back to a Bandon foster home following a
supervised visit with their parents. He ordered the workers out of the
van and drove off with the girls to a nearby lumber mill.
Abandoning the van, the Christines and a friend drove to Montana, where
they were arrested a few days later after Brian Christine was stopped
for speeding. The children were found unharmed in Montana. Both parents
were brought back to Oregon, along with accomplice Matthew Garawon, who
was sentenced to six months in jail.
The Christines were represented by Idaho attorney Edgar Steele, who once
represented the white supremacist Aryan Nations group and is now
serving a 50-year sentence for targeting his wife and mother-in-law in
an unsuccessful 2011 murder-for-hire plot.
Brian Christine, now 40, was convicted in Douglas County Circuit Court
of first-degree robbery, auto theft and custodial interference and
sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison. He is scheduled to be released
March 14 from the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, the Roseburg News
Review reported (http://bit.ly/12AKkra).
Ruth Christine spent eight years in prison before being released and deported back to her native England.
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Information from: The News-Review, http://www.nrtoday.com
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