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VERNAL — A couple who thought they'd found the right person to watch their toddler say their new baby sitter and her boyfriend kidnapped the child and were headed toward Nevada before police intervened.
Kelly Jean King, 53, and Donald Jay Poage, 50, are each charged in 8th District Court with child kidnapping, a first-degree felony. They made their first court appearances Tuesday.
In charging documents, Vernal police say the parents of a 2-year-old girl called them on May 5 to report that King and Poage had taken their daughter to Salt Lake City without permission.
The girl's mother told investigators a friend recommended King as a possible baby sitter. After meeting with King on May 4, the couple decided to leave their daughter in King's care.
King told the child's parents she needed to drive Poage to a job interview in the Salt Lake area the following day and planned to take their daughter along, the charges state.
"(The mother) advised that she was uncomfortable with that because she did not really know Kelly and Donald," a detective wrote, adding that the mother said King then agreed to stay home with the child while Poage went to the job interview.
The woman dropped her daughter off with King the next day and went to work. A short time later, King and Poage contacted the girl's parents, looking for a car seat.
The woman sent King a text message and was initially told the couple and her daughter would be home "in a couple hours," the charges state.
The girl's mother asked why they needed a car seat and was told "they were just going to run some errands around town" and "were taking (the girl) on a picnic," the charges state. The couple allegedly showed the woman a picnic basket "full of goodies and juice."
The mother said she sent King a text message in the afternoon, asking how her daughter was doing and eventually received a response "saying they were at the park and everything was good," the charges state.
When the mother got off work two hours earlier than planned, she went to King and Poage's home to get her daughter. No one was there. The woman sent King a text message and was initially told the couple and her daughter would be home "in a couple hours," the charges state.
King and Poage gave the girl's family "deceptive and contradicting information as to where they were" over the next several hours, telling them they were in Duchesne, Heber City and Park City, investigators said.
The girl's uncle told police he believed King and Poage were driving west on I-80 between Tooele and Wendover during one phone call, based on landmarks and road signs they described.
King and Poage eventually got turned around and Vernal police directed them to meet with West Valley police near 3500 S. Redwood Road, the charges state. West Valley officers placed the girl in protective custody until her parents could pick her up.
(The mother) advised that she was uncomfortable with that because she did not really know Kelly and Donald.
–Charging documents
Police did not immediately arrest King and Poage because it was "unclear what charges could be filed" based on the information available, charging documents state.
Poage was arrested for alleged probation violations the next day. King was arrested the day after that while Vernal police were serving a warrant at the couple's home to seize their cellphones.
During a subsequent interview, officers said King told them the girl's parents gave her permission to take their daughter to Salt Lake City. She said she told the girl's mother to take the day off work if she didn't want her daughter to go on the trip, the charges state.
Investigators said King also told them she got confused while driving in heavy rain in Salt Lake and took the wrong exit, putting the couple on westbound I-80 instead of eastbound I-80.
A check of Utah court records shows Poage was sentenced in December to serve 90 days in jail for a conviction on one count of failure to register as a sex offender. He was also placed on probation for three years.
Poage is required to register as a sex offender due to a 1997 conviction for attempted second-degree sexual assault in Colorado, according to the Utah Department of Corrections.
King's only prior case in Utah involves a conviction for driving with an expired registration, court records show.
King and Poage are being held in the Uintah County Jail without bail. They are due back in court Wednesday for a bail hearing.
