Miguel Morin: Kidnap Victim Finally Meets Real Parents
Miguel Morin, 8, was abducted by his babysitter Krystle Tanner when he was only eight months old. Although Morin was rescued back in March, he was placed in foster care instead of being reunited with his family who live in Houston. On Wednesday, William Thursland, his court appointed lawyer, announced he has finally met his parents in joint therapy sessions. "It's just barely begun so he's cautious," Thursland said in a press conference. "It's going well but it's just going to take time." State District Judge Mike Schneider also ruled that the boy would remain in foster care until at least January 9, when the next hearing is scheduled.
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It may be hard to fathom why the boy wasn't reunited with his parents immediately, but Geoffrey Greif, PhD, of the University of Maryland School of Social Work whose article "Ambiguous Reunification: A Way for Social Workers to Conceptualize the Return of Children After Abduction and Other Separations" will be appearing in an upcoming issue of the journal Families in Society, explains that depending on the particulars of a given case, it may be beneficial to first place a child in a neutral environment while the details of their condition and their relationship to their abductor are revealed. Morin grew up believing Tanner was his real mother. "Imagine that the person that is supposedly your mother is not…" Greif tells Shine. "The therapist's decision could be based in part on his attachment to the woman who pretended to be his mother for years."
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Miguel has recently been told that the Morins are his biological parents, reports the Associated Press. He also has four siblings whom he will meet within the next few weeks.
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Authorities have charged Tanner, 30, and her mother, Gloria Walker, with kidnapping and child injury. In March, Morin suffered a leg injury and Tanner brought him to the hospital. Suspicions were aroused when she wouldn't provide his name or Social Security number. DNA tests subsequently confirmed his identity.
The pair reportedly did not send Morin to school and when he was first saved he was functioning at a below-kindergarten level. He believed his name was JaQuan and he was six years-old. Now, Estella Olguin, a spokesperson for Houston Child Protective Services says, "He is doing really remarkably. He's really a great little man." In only five months, the boy has learned to read and write and is now attending second grade.
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