FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARREST WARRANTS ISSUED IN LACOMBE CHILD CUSTODY CASE

San Antonio, Texas: December 14, 2009:

Today District Attorney Susan D. Reed obtained felony arrest warrants for Jean Phillipe Lacombe Vega, also known as Juan Felipe Lacombe, age 41, for the felony offenses of Kidnapping, Aggravated Perjury, and Interference with Child Custody. Jean Phillipe Lacombe is a Mexican and French citizen.

The arrest affidavit submitted by an Investigator from the District Attorney’s White Collar Crime Division was presented this afternoon to 290th District Court Judge Sharon MacRae who then issued the felony warrants for the arrest of Lacombe. The affidavit alleges that Jean Phillipe Lacombe, the father of Jean Paul Lacombe, age 10, obtained an order on October 15, 2009 allowing him to take temporary custody of his son. This order was presented to Precinct #3 deputy constables who assisted Lacombe with the taking of the boy from an NEISD school bus on October 16th, 2009. The order issued by Judge Sol Casseb also ordered the mother and the father to appear in court the following Monday October 19, for a hearing to determine rightful possession of the child. Berenice Diaz, Jean Paul’s mother, was present when her son was seized, and was told she would see her son again at the hearing scheduled for October 19, 2009.

The District Attorney’s office alleges in the affidavit that the mother, Bernice Diaz, has lawful custody of the child, Jean Paul and that Lacombe allegedly perpetrated a fraud upon the court by misrepresenting Mexican decrees in order to unlawfully obtain possession of the child and to abscond.

Kidnapping and Aggravated Perjury are third degree felonies with a punishment range of two to ten years in prison. Interference with Child Custody is a State Jail Felony with a punishment range of 180 days to 2 years in the state jail facility.

For more information, contact District Attorney Susan Reed at 335-2342.