by Mike Andrew - SGN Staff Writer

A Lesbian mother has filed a RICO lawsuit against a number of religious organizations and individuals who, she says, were involved in kidnapping her daughter and taking her to Nicaragua.

The RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act provides for civil lawsuits against ongoing criminal enterprises involving multiple parties.

In the suit filed on August 14, Janet Jenkins says the defendants assisted her former partner, Lisa Miller, in kidnapping their daughter Isabella and taking her first to Canada and then to Nicaragua. Miller reportedly converted to Christianity and now identifies as 'ex-Gay.'

Jenkins and Miller entered into a civil union in Vermont in 2000, shortly after the state became the first to legally recognize same-sex relationships. Miller conceived the child through artificial insemination, and both acted as parents.

After Miller's religious conversion, the couple dissolved their civil union and a child-custody case went to Vermont family court in 2004. Miller was awarded primary custody and moved to Virginia. Jenkins, who was given visitation rights, appealed the custody decision.

Isabella, now 10, was last seen in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Virginia on September 20, 2009. According to Jenkins' suit, her former partner, the partner's father, and two operatives of an organization called Response Unlimited were involved in removing the girl from the country.

Response Unlimited describes itself as a 'mailing lists and creative services' provider. Its political orientation is indicated by its 'featured lists,' which include 'Anti-Obama Donors,' 'Alan Keyes Universe,' 'Republican Hotline Donors,' 'Religious Freedom Coalition,' and 'Nora Lam Ministries.'

In her RICO suit, Jenkins also names Christian Aid Ministries, Liberty University School of Law, Thomas Road Baptist Church, and several of their employees as defendants.

PREACHER CONVICTED
On the same day that Jenkins filed her suit, a Mennonite preacher was convicted in federal court of aiding and abetting kidnapping in the case. The case was tried in federal court because Isabella was taken across the U.S. border.

Federal prosecutors said Kenneth Miller of Stuarts Draft, Virginia, helped orchestrate Lisa Miller's flight to Canada and Nicaragua with Isabella in 2009. Mennonite minister Kenneth Miller is not related to Lisa Miller.

During three days of testimony, prosecutors used cell-phone records and sometimes-reluctant witnesses to document a broad network overseen by Kenneth Miller that helped Lisa Miller escape the U.S. with Isabella and travel first to Canada and then to Nicaragua.

Prosecutors said Kenneth Miller arranged for another person to drive the two from Virginia to Buffalo, N.Y., where they crossed into Canada and were picked up by an Ontario Mennonite, who took them to an airport.

After they arrived in Nicaragua, prosecutors said, the two were cared for by American Mennonites who felt they needed to protect Isabella from what they considered a sinful Lesbian lifestyle.

Kenneth Miller's attorneys said he aided Lisa Miller out of Christian solidarity with her decision to reject homosexuality and her former partner. The jury deliberated only a few hours before finding him guilty.

He now faces the possibility of three years in prison. No sentencing date has been set.

Jenkins was not in court at the time, but her attorney said she is pleased that Kenneth Miller is being held accountable.

'She hopes that the verdict will send a message to those who continue to aid and abet Lisa Miller in Nicaragua,' said attorney Sarah Star. 'Her greatest hope is that the government's efforts will lead to Isabella's safe return to Vermont.'

The U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with Nicaragua, and the Central American country has not signed the 1980 Hague convention on international child abductions, which is designed to return children illegally taken from member countries.

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