Bond Denied for Mom Charged with Fleeing Overseas

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) _ A federal judge has denied bond for a woman arrested in Australia on charges of abducting her infant daughter from South Carolina 20 years ago. Court papers show U.S. Magistrate Bristow Marchant made that decision Monday for 54-year-old Dorothy Lee Barnett. Barnett faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of parental kidnapping and two counts of falsifying U.S. passport applications. Authorities say Barnett did not have custody of her daughter, Savanna Catherine Todd, when she took her from South Carolina in 1994 when the child was almost a year old. They say she was found in Australia last year living under several aliases and was returned to the United States in September. Barnett’s attorney says his client is neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk.