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Accused kidnappers cleared of civil charges


Queens County Family Court Judge Guy…

By Betsy Scheinbart

A couple accused of kidnapping a baby boy from Jamaica Estates more than 20 years ago were harshly criticized but cleared of charges of civil contempt by a Queens Family Court judge in Jamaica last Thursday.

Queens County Family Court Judge Guy DePhillips chastised Barry and Judith Smiley in his decision but ruled “there is no jurisdictional basis at this time for civil contempt.”

The Smileys still face kidnapping charges in criminal court and DePhillips censured them for preventing the baby from growing up with his biological parents.

“The childhood of the biological child of the parents is gone forever,” DePhillips said. “In essence and in effect, that childhood was murdered.”

In his ruling, DePhillips said that by allegedly kidnapping a child who was loved and wanted by his biological parents, the Smileys committed a “violation of common decency.”

The Smileys, who used the surname Propp for more than 20 years while living on the lam are charged with kidnapping a boy they had adopted and raised as Matthew Propp in Albuquerque, N.M. They face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

The newborn was taken from the hospital by his maternal grandfather, who allegedly tricked his 19-year-old daughter, Deborah Gardner, into signing adoption papers. He then passed the newborn to an attorney who gave the child to the Smileys.

Soon afterward, Gardner and her boyfriend, Anthony Russini, the child’s father, went to family court to get their child back.

In 1980, a Queens Family Court judge ordered the Smileys to return the child to his natural parents after they had cared for him for 15 months. Instead, they fled their Jamaica Estates home with the child, leaving behind their high-level positions in the city administration.

The Smileys were held in contempt of court for not returning the child and the judge ruled that no adoption ever took place.

“Contrary to popular reporting, this legal matter is not an adoption or a failed adoption,” DePhillips said in his decision last week. “The parental rights of the biological parents of the child, now an adult, were never terminated.”

The Smileys did not tell Matthew Propp of his background until he turned 21. In March, Barry Smiley surrendered to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown’s office and pleaded not guilty to kidnapping the child.

Smiley was released on $25,000 bail and returned to court April 25 for a pretrial hearing. Judith Smiley, who is in poor health after knee-replacement surgery, failed to attend the hearing.

Tom Garrity, a spokesman for Judith Smiley in New Mexico, said she is unable to travel because her doctors fear that she could develop blood clots. She was scheduled for additional surgery soon.

State Supreme Court Judge Joseph Grosso was very upset that Judith Smiley did not appear in court last week, said Betsy Hertzog, a spokeswoman for DA’s office. Grosso ordered both Smileys to appear in court June 8.

Reach reporter Betsy Scheinbart by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300 Ext. 138.