Transgender parent, partner accused of kidnapping, flying child to Cuba for reassignment surgery

A transgender parent and the parent's partner appeared in court Tuesday facing charges of international parental kidnapping. 

Rose Inessa-Ethington, who also goes by Eri Ethington, 42; and Blue Inessa-Ethington, aka Carly Ann Crosby, 32, were supposed to be traveling by car to from Utah to Alberta, Canada, for a planned camping trip with a 10-year-old child.

Inessa-Ethington, the child's biological father, had shared custody with the child's biological mother, and Inessa-Ethington was suppose to return the child to his mother after the camping trip. According to court documents, Inessa-Ethington and his partner instead took the child to Cuba via Mexico City, Mexico, without the mother's knowledge. 

"Concerns existed that the child was transported to Cuba for gender reassignment surgery prior to puberty," a Justice Department release stated. 

The child, who was born male, identified as a female child, which family members believe is due to manipulation by the child's father. 

With the help of Cuban officials, the group was located, and the two suspects were deported from Cuba. The mother now has exclusive custody of the child.