Idaho's first 'abortion trafficking' arrest

[In It to Win It]

Abortion, Every Day - Jessica Valenti Substack

Last week, an Idaho teenager and his mother were arrested for bringing the teen’s girlfriend out-of-state for an abortion. The pair were charged with multiple felonies, including second degree kidnapping, for taking a minor under 16 years-old “with the intent to keep or conceal [her] from her custodial parent...by transporting the child out of the state for the purpose of obtaining an abortion.”

The 15 year-old, identified in court records as K.B., was living in Pocatello with her 18 year-old boyfriend Kaydn* and his mother, Rachael, when she became pregnant. In May, they brought her to Oregon, where K.B. received abortion medication. Idaho’s ‘abortion trafficking’ law went into effect that same month.

The investigation into the mother and son began shortly after K.B.’s mother reported to police that her daughter had been sexually assaulted. Though K.B. became sexually active when Kaydn was 17 years-old, he turned 18 during the course of their relationship; so in addition to the kidnapping charge, court documents show that he’s also been charged with rape and sexual exploitation of a child.

During this conversation with law enforcement, K.B.’s mother also reported that her daughter had been taken to Oregon for an abortion without parental permission. This sparked a far-reaching investigation that included accessing geolocation data to place the teenager at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Bend, and tracking her movement with Kaydn and Rachael from Idaho to Oregon. (A search warrant, for example, shows that law enforcement accessed the phones of all three, and found that they were pinging cell towers in the area of the clinic.)

Link to tweet

[struggle4progress]

1. Rachael Swainston, Kadyn Swainston took pregnant girl to Bend

Date: October 31, 2023
Author: Erica Diaz Mendoza Lao

Rachael Swainston, 42, lived in Pocatello, Bannock County, Idaho, United States with her son Kadyn Leo Swainston, 18. Staying in her storage shed was Rick A Parsons Jr., who had an outstanding felony warrant for felony meth trafficking charges

In 2022, Kadyn started having sex with a girl, then 14. Their consensual sexual relationship continued after he turned 18.

Shortly after Kadyn turned 18, the girl discovered that she was pregnant. While she was happy about it, he demanded that she get an abortion, according to her ...

On November 7, 2023, Kadyn and Rachael will be back in court for separate preliminary hearings. She was charged with harboring a wanted felon, second-degree kidnapping, trafficking in methamphetamine, and two counts of possession of a controlled substance while he was charged with rape, second-degree kidnapping and three counts of producing child sexually exploitative material ...

https://conandaily.com/2023/10/31/why-pocatello-idahos-rachael-swainston-kadyn-swainston-took-pregnant-girl-to-bend-oregon/

[maspaha]

2. My daughter was born in Idaho

I loved living there. It was beautiful. And peaceful. We lived outside of Boise with mountains and four seasons. I cried when we moved. My daughter is 24 now and lives in…Iowa, not sure that’s much better.

But there’s hope, she has Canadian citizenship.

[rownesheck]

3. The authorities used geolocation data.

This tells me we should leave our phones at home if we bring a woman someplace to receive medical care.

[David__77]

4. Absolutely.

Burner phones only.

[swong19104]

9. Just set it to airplane mode

for a while and when near any major city. Also buy a burner mobile phone, a Nokia flip phone is about $50.

Get VPN and use that with the smartphone when you need to get navigation information. Then re-set the phone to airplane mode. Or just turn it completely off.

[PortTack]

5. So the mother thinks her daughter is better off now for reporting her? Good gawd..does she think her

Daughter is better off now?…. a felony charge that will follow her at least until these terrible laws are once and for all done away with.

Shit for brains!

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. The girl wasn't charged.

[PortTack]

15. Thx..read the whole thing, but obviously not closely enough...still frustrating

[jmowreader]

6. This route makes no sense at all to me

To get to Planned Parenthood in Bend you have to drive past Planned Parenthood in Ontario. They're on the exact same highway...and Ontario is a couple hundred miles closer to Pocatello than Bend is. Is it possible these idiots - who aren't very bright considering the extensive list of non-abortion-related charges both are facing - thought they wouldn't be caught if they went halfway across the state of Oregon to do this?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. Bend may have had an earlier appointment than Ontario, or there were people who could support them in Bend,

and so on.

thought they wouldn't be caught if they went halfway across the state of Oregon to do this?

Driving halfway across Oregon is not why they got charged. They got "caught" because someone turned them in, which is how this law works.

[jmowreader]

14. What I was thinking...

Ontario is on the state line. Maybe they thought if they went to the Ontario clinic someone would see them.

[Septua]

8. The abortion issue is nutzo...

I can only hope the voters start weeding out the pro-life crazies.

[swong19104]

10. I'm also guessing that

Idaho has zilch for sex education. Kaydn and his girlfriend didn't know how to avoid pregnancy while in a sexual relationship.

[chouchou]

11. And there's many politicians

..in Washington DC that have committed hundreds of far worse actions.

[Tree Lady]

12. They will use this case but it sounds like it

has nothing to do with normal people who can't get a abortion in Idaho. Sounds like this girl didn't want one so that is not choice and I am surprised that the place in Bend wasn't able to figure that out. Wonder if they were able to talk to her alone away from him and his mom.

[Initech]

16. Fuck these pro-life ghouls.

[Zeitghost]

17. A meth addict and a rapist

Trying to cover up a pregnancy created from that rape.

I'm not sure this is the pro choice hill we need to die on.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

18. Also, the people charged weren't charged under Idaho's "abortion trafficking" law.

The language of the law was used in the kidnapping charge, but they were not charged under the trafficking law.