Megan Everett got some good news and bad news from prosecutors in Broward County, Florida on Monday. Everett is currently in jail on charges that she fled with her two-year-old daughter, Lilly, and spent a year on the run rather than have her go to day care, get vaccinated, and learn about black history. On Monday, prosecutors dropped charges of kidnapping against Everett. That only makes her legal situation marginally better; she still faces charges that carry a combined 15 years in federal and state prison.
For those who don’t know, last year Everett fled and took her then two-year-old daughter, Lilly, with her rather than turn Lilly over to her biological father, Robert Baumann, per a joint-custody agreement. However, Everett’s head had been turned by the extreme right-wing views of her current boyfriend, Carlos Lesters, with whom she’d been living since Lilly was eight months old. By the time Lesters was finished with her, Everett was a 200 percent rabid anti-vaxxer and Confederate enthusiast.
Everett was also a fanatical Second Amendment absolutist who was frighteningly careless with guns. Baumann obtained numerous pictures from both her Facebook page and that of Lesters showing Lilly within easy reach of guns and ammo at Lesters’ home in Sunrise, near Fort Lauderdale. Everett’s mother, Pam, and sister, Stephanie, were also alarmed by these pictures–enough that, in a break from usual practice, they supported Baumann’s bid for full legal custody. However, even in the face of evidence that this was no situation for a toddler to be in, a Broward County judge imposed a 50-50 custody arrangement. That judge was later voted out in part due to this folly.
Only a month later, Baumann came to pick up Lilly per that agreement, only to have Lesters tell him that Everett had left and taken Lilly with her. The search for Lilly dragged along at a snail’s pace until her story was profiled on CNN’s “The Hunt With John Walsh” on August 2. Less than 24 hours later, a woman in Palatka, halfway between Jacksonville and Gainesville, called to report that she may have rented a house in the area to Everett. Police captured Everett without incident. Lilly was reunited with Baumann later that night, and is now safe and sound at Baumann’s home in Davie.
Everett had her first court appearance on Monday. At that hearing, prosecutors announced they were no longer going to pursue the kidnapping charge. A spokeswoman for the Broward County state’s attorney’s office told New Times Broward-Palm Beach that under Florida law, it is not possible for a parent to kidnap his or her own child. I found it hard to understand at first, as did many of Lilly’s supporters at the Facebook group “Bring Lilly Home.” But the more I think about it, that loophole allows a battered spouse to flee with his or her kids. No one wants that loophole closed, even if it were possible to do so.
That doesn’t make Everett’s legal situation much better, though. She still faces charges of interference with custody and concealing a child contrary to a court order. Both of those charges carry a maximum of five years in prison. She also faces federal charges of flight across state lines to avoid prosecution, which carries an additional five years. By my math, if Everett is convicted on all of those charges, it will be a long time before she draws free air again. That should be more than enough time for Lilly to heal, which is all that really counts.
Everett is currently in jail on $200,000 bond. Her next court appearance will be December 19, unless she can get her bond reduced. But Pam and Stephanie Everett, with whom I’ve been in contact for most of the last year, told me that Baumann is ready in the event Megan does bond out. Baumann has secured a pickup order that will supersede the custody agreement pending a permanent custody order. He also persuaded a judge to issue a no-contact order which will keep Everett away from both him and Lilly. Cliff notes version–even if Everett gets out of jail, there is no legal way for her to get to Lilly.
No court date has been set for Lesters yet; he has been in jail since August 6 on charges that he aided and abetted Everett while she was on the run. Hopefully others will join these two in jail; Pam Everett told me that it’s a near-certainty that others besides Lesters helped Everett. For now, though, what really counts is that Lilly won’t have to worry about being spirited away again for awhile.
