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The Maui News
WAILUKU -- A woman was given a chance to keep a conviction off her record after she and another woman drove a teenage girl around for hours before she was returned to her mother.
Kindal Beckman, 32, who was originally charged with kidnapping, had pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree custodial interference.
She was living on Lanai when she was arrested May 6, 2019.
The 14-year-old girl's mother had allowed the girl to go to the beach with Beckman and co-defendant Marceline Perez, who had children in high school, as long as the girl was home by a certain time, Deputy Prosecutor Sally Tobin said when Beckman was sentenced Oct. 14.
"The certain time came and passed," Tobin said. "There was a series of phone calls back and forth. The defendant and co-defendant basically wouldn't return the young lady to her mother."
Instead, they "went on an adventure" to other locations, Tobin said.
Even after police contacted the defendants and told them to return the girl, "it was 1 or 2 in the morning before they were finally able to locate the young lady," Tobin said.
She said the girl got out of the car and walked home after they stopped at someone's house.
The prosecution opposed Beckman's request for a deferral, with Tobin saying the defendant hadn't taken responsibility for what she did.
Her attorney, Elizabeth Cuccia, said Beckman was taking responsibility and "has always wanted to tell her side of what happened."
Beckman hadn't been told what time the girl was supposed to be home, and the other woman was driving, Cuccia said.
"The girl was returned, there was no allegation that they had hurt her," Cuccia said. "They were all church friends. They were with children of the same age as the minor child.
"She never wanted any of this to happen."
Beckman said she and the girl's mother had been friends.
"I was acting like a mentor to this young girl," she said. "In hindsight, I wish I would have been more aggressive with my co-defendant. I was pleading with her, can we just get this girl back."
Beckman said she was in a "vulnerable place" because she was staying with Perez at her house.
She said she hasn't consumed alcohol since that day, volunteers at her church and wants to be a teacher.
Second Circuit Judge Kirstin Hamman said she believed what happened was "episodic" and unlikely to occur again, granting Beckman's request to keep the conviction off her record if she complies with court requirements for one year.
Beckman was ordered not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs and to have no contact with the girl and her mother.
Perez, 42, was placed on one year's probation when she was sentenced April 27 after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree custodial interference. Charges of second-degree terroristic threatening, third-degree assault, DUI and driving without a license were dismissed as part of Perez's plea agreement.