WATERVILLE — A Hallowell woman who allegedly took illegal custody of her biological child Monday in Winthrop, concealed his whereabouts and drove him to Waterville was arrested Wednesday morning on Kennedy Memorial Drive.
Stacy-Lee Taylor, 33, who does not have full guardianship of the 11-year-old boy, was charged with criminal restraint by a parent, a class C felony, according to Winthrop police Chief Ryan Frost, whose department investigated the case.
Frost said the person who does have full guardianship of the boy lives in Winthrop. When Winthrop police learned Monday from a family member that Taylor was in Waterville with the child, Frost asked Waterville police to find and detain Taylor until two Winthrop police officers could go there and arrest her, Frost said.
Taylor was arrested at 11:23 a.m. Wednesday and taken to the Kennebec County Jail in Augusta, where she remained in the evening in lieu of $500 bail.
Frost said Winthrop police started investigating the case when the department received a report at 6 p.m. Monday that the child was missing. That department worked with the Kennebec County District Attorney’s Office to determine a violation had occurred.
Taylor “basically concealed the child and the child’s location from the actual guardian of the child,” Frost said.
Waterville police Deputy Chief Bill Bonney said Wednesday that Waterville officers went to Kennedy Memorial Drive around 8:41 a.m., responding to a report of criminal restraint by a parent. Police detained the woman for Winthrop police, the charging agency, he said.
Winthrop police Detective Peter Struck and Officer Paul Ferland arrived at the scene to arrest Taylor, according to Frost.
Bonney said police learned an acquaintance of Taylor’s had left the area in a vehicle. Waterville and Winslow police stopped the vehicle on Cushman Road in Winslow to question that acquaintance.
“We ultimately learned that the child in question was safe in Waterville and we, along with Winthrop PD, located the child,” Bonney said.
The boy was OK and the state Department of Health and Human Services was going to determine where the he would be taken, according to Frost.
He said Winthrop police kept the investigation under wraps because they did not want Taylor to disappear. Meanwhile, he praised Waterville police for their help in finding Taylor.
“Waterville Police Department was great,” he said. “They obviously took it seriously and got over there to detain her for us.”
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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