Trapped in an Italian orphanage: The red tape home

It's a continued battle against bureaucracy for a local man who says his 8-year-old grandson is stuck in a foreign country. 

In Part I, On Your Side Investigator Anna Song wrote about the pain this international tug of war has caused this man. Now, she writes about his fight against red tape.


THE DALLES, Ore. - Kenneth McCarty is doing everything he can to help his grandson Liam, but there's only so much a man in The Dalles can do from half a world away.

"I've faxed a letter to the White House, and they actually replied," McCarty said. "But that's the only response I've gotten."

He has contacted the state department, the U.S. Embassy in Rome, and local elected officials. And he is losing hope.

For the past two years, Liam has been stuck in an Italian orphanage after his mother abducted him to Italy. The move defied a court order granting Liam's father custody here in the U.S.

Italian courts deemed Liam's mother unfit to parent and for two years Kenneth McCarty's son Michael - Liam's father (pictured right) - has being trying to get Liam back. However, Kenneth McCarty said Italian authorities won't budge.

"So far there has been no response, no reply and apparently no action," he said. "One has to suppose there is no intent to act."

For McCarty, that's something he can't quite get his fingers around.

"We know connected people cause things to happen, so that's clear," he said. "If you're connected you can make things happen - but so far we're not in those circles."

So, KATU started making calls on the McCarty's behalf.

Congressman Greg Walden's office has yet to return KATU's calls.

However, both Oregon senators - Jeff Merkeley and Ron Wyden - tell KATU that they will be working closely with the senators in New York, where Liam's father lives. Those senators are Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer.

KATU has been told that the New York senators are taking the lead on this case. 

Additionally, KATU has been told that the senators now are appealing to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for help.
              
"I would want them to hear and understand the story," McCarty said. "And be moved to take what action they can take."

Those are actions this grandfather hopes will come sooner, rather than later. Each day is another day that his precious grandson gets older and more distant - trapped in an Italian orphanage.