Ezra Lui

Parent of Kidnapped Child:
Sam Lui
Child's Birthday:
August 1997
Abduction Date:
November 1999
Abductor's Name:
Terumi Kakiuchi (aka Satori Kawamura)
Abducted From:
Irvine, CA

Background

Sam was the sole custodian of Ezra before the abduction, because the mother was arrested for spousal abuse in June of 1999. Nonetheless, Sam allowed the mother to have overnight visitation with Ezra. The mother took advantage of the circumstances and abducted Ezra back to Osaka, Japan. Sam filed petition in Osaka District Court to have his custody order recognized in Japan. While the petition was granted, Japanese courts lacked the means to enforce its judgment. Further, the Japanese Family Court initially only granted Sam 3 hours visitation per year, though recognizing that he was the custodial parent. Meanwhile, time passed, and Ezra was brainwashed to be fearful of his father and grew accustomed to Japan. In 2003, after nearly 4 years of litigation, Sam settled with the mother: Sam would give up his custody right of Ezra in Japan and pay child support in exchange for getting access to Ezra.  Once the stipulation was signed, the mother immediately erased the father’s surname from Ezra’s family registry. In every visitation, Ezra would show sign of hatred toward his father. The mother also made Sam to pay for all sorts of things (i.e., computer and camcorder), claiming them to be for the benefit of Ezra when he was only 6 years old. Sam stopped visiting. To date, the mother still harasses Sam by email and continue to brainwash Ezra, despite the fact that Sam continues to pay child support as agreed.