The parents of a one-year-old baby who were wanted by police for kidnapping their own child say they are innocent.
They say they only took the child to meet his grandmother in Mossel Bay and didn’t snatch him.
Jamie Lee Paulse, 26, and her boyfriend, Shannon October, 25, came to the Daily Voice this week claiming they have cleaned up their act and no longer live on the streets.
The couple used to skarrel in the Cape Town CBD and Green Point.
Two weeks ago, the police and Pink Ladies Missing Children’s Organisation sent out an alert for missing Beagon Paulse and opened a case of kidnapping with Bishop Lavis FCS (Family Violence and Sexual Offences Unit).
Police said Beagon was placed in the care of social workers, but was snatched from his caregiver in March.
On 10 April, police found Beagon with his parents in Green Point and took him back to social workers.
The couple claim they never kidnapped their child, but took him to see his paternal grandmother in Mossel Bay.
“My relative sent us money via an e-wallet and we took him with us to Mossel Bay after he was with the caregiver, who is Jamie’s mother,” says Shannon.
Jamie says it was Easter weekend and they didn’t think there was anything wrong with taking their child.
Beagon Paulse, one
“He is our child. We didn’t kidnap him. He was happy with us,” she says.
“When we came back to Cape Town on 10 April, the police said they were looking for us for kidnapping. We have a problem now, everyone is looking at us as kidnappers.”
The couple say they were taken to the police station, but claim they were never arrested.
Their six-year-old daughter is also in the care of relatives.
Dessie Rechner, the director of the Pink Ladies, says they worked in partnership with police to find the child and that the couple needs to forward their questions to the police.
The Daily Voice asked police if the couple have been arrested on kidnapping charges, but did not receive a reply.