Stolen From My Arms: A Young Mother Crosses International Boundaries

When Katie Sapienza’s six-year-old son is kidnapped by his estranged non-custodial father and taken to a foreign country, Katie’s world falls apart. Leaving her California home and her supportive and frightened parents, Katie, in a state of panic and near hysteria, hops on a plane and flies half way around the world. She presents a meaningless warrant for Massimo s arrest to the Italian court system, but is immediately legally assaulted by them. She is shocked to learn that the Italian judge on the case has sided with the father and makes it clear that Katie is not welcome there, nor will they return her son to her. In despair, anguish, and heartbreak, Katie, who does not know of God s love and Christ’s sacrifice, decides she must remain in Italy, figure a way to support herself, and develop a plan to get Alex safely back to the U.S. In her desperation and grief, Katie turns to alcohol and sedatives to make it through each torturous day and sleepless night. Forbidden unsupervised access to her son, kept under the watchful glare of suspicious Italian relatives, and emotionally withering under the barrage of false accusations and misrepresentations, Katie suffers both regular anxiety attacks and deep depression. Plan after plan to legally retake her son fails. Days turn into weeks, and weeks into months. When three years have passed, Katie now realizes she will never get her son back at least not through the Italian legal system. She decides she must take a different course of action a dangerous one, a very dangerous one, but this is her son, and she must do this. A true, suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat, heart-rending story, which Illustrates God s mercy and redemption.