Even though Julian Hernandez was kept from his mother for 13 years, he says forgives his father for doing so.
Bobby Hernandez pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including two counts of kidnapping, two counts of interference with custody, and ten counts of tampering with records.
Although he was charged with kidnapping his son, Bobby Hernandez was portrayed as the model father for being able to raise his son properly.
Ralph DeFranco, Bobby Hernandez’s court-appointed attorney, told Washington Post, “He’s been a perfect father. I just meant he couldn’t have done anymore. The young man is a senior, he’s a straight-A student who played sports; he was planning to go to college. It’s gratifying that this young man turned out as well as he did.”
Bobby Hernandez is accused of taking his 5-year-old son Julian Hernandez from Alabama to Cleveland instead of dropping him off at daycare. He went by the name Jonathan Mangina and lived in Ohio with his son.
Years passed, and Julian continued living healthy, normal, and happy with his father. But when he turned 18 years old, Julian found out what was going on. While he was filling out college applications, he noticed that his social security numbers did not match his name. That’s when the outrageous truth started to unravel.
Because Julian was confused by the error in his personal information, he asked a school counselor to assist him in completing applications. Then, the counselor discovered that Julian was on the list of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
“He anticipated there would come a time when this would happen — and it happened,” DeFranco shared. “He understands what the situation is and he feels very badly the whole thing happened.”
Bobby Hernandez, a U.S. Navy Veteran without any criminal history, was sentenced to 4 years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to kidnapping, tampering with records, and interference with custody.
In 2017, he asked the courts to release him and put him under alternate supervision.
“Clearly the defendant understands and appreciates the gravity of this case and understands that he denied the child’s mother access to him for many years,” DeFranco mentioned in a court filing.
Julian’s mother and family were happy to hear that he was already found. He has been in contact with them and asked the FBI for his privacy to be respected.
“I ask that you respect my privacy and the privacy of my school, my school’s faculty, my friends, and my neighbors,” Julian Hernandez said. “At this point, I just simply want to be normal. I want to go through my day like I did before this week, just being a normal 18-year-old. I have goals that I am striving to meet so please, again, respect my request for privacy.”
What do you think about this story? Should the father stay in prison for kidnapping his own son even if Julian forgives him? Let us know in the comments section below!