Father jailed for trying to reclaim kids

American is under arrest in Japan after picking up his two children who were abducted from Tennessee by his ex-wife, Noriko, a Japanese

Father jailed for trying to reclaim kids

American is under arrest in Japan after picking up his two children who were abducted from Tennessee by his ex-wife, Noriko, a Japanese

A local court in his hometown of Franklin, Tennessee, recently gave Savoie full custody of the boy and girl. But family and friends say that's not doing him much good in the custody battle that's now playing out 7,000 miles away in the city of Fukuoka, Japan.

Loving Dad: Christopher Savoie with his children his children 8-year-old Isaac and 6-year-old Rebecca

"He's a very good man and he loves those kids," said his current wife, Amy.

She added Christopher just wanted to see his children 8-year-old Isaac and 6-year-old Rebecca. The two were abducted to Japan back in August by Christopher's ex-wife, Noriko.

After the abduction, Williamson County courts gave him full custody of the children.

"Their birthdays were coming up in October and November," Amy said, bursting into tears. "So, he wanted to say goodbye to them, to get them birthday presents."

Filmy chase

Early Monday, Savoie apparently picked them up as they walked to school, according to friend and witness Shannon Higgins.
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But instead of heading to the nearest airport, Savoie drove straight to the nearest US Consulate where Japanese police were waiting.

Apparently alerted by Noriko, Japanese police blocked the road near the consulate, Higgins said. Then, Savoie got out of the car and ran.

"So there was that first barricadeu00a0and then, once they got to the gate, the US Consulate did not open the gate," he recalled.

Like a scene from a movie,u00a0 Isaac froze in the streets as his Dad raced toward the consulate with Rebecca in his arms.

"Chris was there with a little girl in his arms crying. 'Please help, please help. We're American citizens. Please let us through.' And they simply did not open the gate," Higgins added.

Japanese Law

Japan is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on international child abduction.

So while Japanese civil law stresses that courts resolve custody issues based on the best interest of the children without regard to either parent's nationality, foreign parents have had little success in regaining custody.

Japanese family law follows a tradition of sole custody divorces. When a couple splits, one parent typically makes a complete and lifelong break from the children.

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