GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — MLive reports Marian Moussa, who admitted to taking a 3-year-old girl from a Grand Rapids school bus and driving the child around for three hours before turning her over to police, will not go to jail.
Moussa was sentenced to a year on probation on Tuesday in Kent County Circuit Court, according to the news outlet. She had been found not guilty of kidnapping on July 18 after a week-long trial and six hours of deliberation. The jury found her guilty of misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession and resisting police.
On Jan. 14, 2013, Moussa took Maryanne Curiel from the bus she rode after school, MLive reports. She contacted authorities and made the false claims that she was related to the child, the child was being abused, the child had a bomb in her backpack, and the child was malnourished, according to court testimony. Police met Moussa in a church parking lot, where the child was returned to her parents, and arrested her. The news outlet reports that Moussa resisted arrest before she was charged with kidnapping.
A jury member said the prosecution “overcharged” Moussa and they could not find that she intended to kidnap the child, according to the news outlet. Moussa testified that she took the child and waited for the parents to show up, but when they didn’t she made every effort to return the child to authorities. In court on Tuesday, Moussa apologized for her behavior and again said that she did not intend to kidnap the child, according to MLive.
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Woman who took girl from school bus will not get jail time
Marian Moussa, who admitted to taking a 3-year-old girl from a Grand Rapids school bus and driving the child around for three hours before turning her over to police, was found not guilty of kidnapping and was sentenced to a year on probation. A jury member said the prosecution “overcharged” Moussa and they could not find that she intended to kidnap the child.
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