NJ jury convicts woman accused of hiding daughter in Spain over ex-husband’s objections

NJ woman convicted in international custody case

NEWARK, N.J. — A woman accused of hiding her daughter in Spain to evade a custody judgment has been convicted by a New Jersey jury of custody interference and ignoring a court order to return the girl to the United States.

Maria Jose Carrascosa has been held in a New Jersey jail for three years for refusing to bring her daughter Victoria back from Spain, where the girl, now 9, lives with Carrascosa’s parents.

A U.S. court previously granted Carrascosa’s ex-husband, Peter Innes of Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., sole custody of his daughter. But Carrascosa got an order from a Spanish court for the girl to remain in Spain. New Jersey, U.S. and Spanish authorities have tried to mediate a solution.

Now, the mother is to be sentenced in December. She could receive 10 years in prison.