WATERVILLE — A court-appointed child visitation supervisor has been summoned and charged with two counts of endangering the life of a child in the case of a Fairfield woman who fled to South Carolina with her two children earlier this month.
Jennifer Dore, 37, of 36 Pleasant Drive, Benton, was supervising the visit between BethMarie Retamozzo, 34, and her children Aug. 15 on Drummond Avenue when Retamozzo drove away with the children at a high speed and was lost in traffic, according to Deputy Police Chief Charles Rumsey. Retamozzo does not have custody of the children.
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Dore did not report the 2:30 p.m. abduction to police and only spoke with police more than five hours later after authorities contacted her, Rumsey said today.
Dore was an acquaintance of the family who was chosen by all parties as someone who would be an appropriate visitation supervisor, he said.
“Dore is not an employee of DHHS (state Department of Health & Human Services),” he said. “She wasn’t acting in any professional capacity. She’s a private citizen that agreed to supervise these visits.”
He said that Dore had attended court hearings regarding Retamozzo and was familiar with her history and knew why she needed supervised visits.
“We feel that through the action on her part — or inaction, by not reporting immediately to police, that she placed the children in danger,” Rumsey said.
Dore is scheduled to appear in Waterville District Court at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 5, he said.
Waterville police Sgt. Jennifer Weaver and Detective David Caron went to South Carolina and brought Retamozzo back to Maine Monday, Rumsey said.
Retamozzo had been held in Colleton County Jail in South Carolina since Saturday on a charge of being a fugitive from justice. She has also been charged with two counts of criminal restraint by a parent, a class C felony.
The children were reported missing by their grandmother on Aug. 15. The three were later found sleeping at a rest stop on Interstate 95 in South Carolina after driving more than 1,100 miles.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
acalder@mainetoday.com
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