HARRISBURG Court upholds dad's conviction of kidnapping

HARRISBURG (AP) -- The state Superior Court has reversed a 110-year-old precedent and upheld the conviction of a Delaware County father for kidnapping his own daughter.
Robert N. Rivera is the first parent convicted under Pennsylvania law of kidnapping his or her own child since a pair of state Supreme Court decisions in 1889 and 1892 ruled that kidnapping does not apply to parents, according to his defense attorney.
Rivera, 36, of Boothwyn, was convicted in January 2002 of second-degree murder, kidnapping and other charges related to the disappearance of his 20-month-old daughter, Katelyn, who has never been found.
"Bad cases make bad law," said defense Attorney G. Guy Smith. "Robert Rivera is so hated by the district attorney and probably by the bulk of the commonwealth, because the alleged crime is so disgusting to every person with a brain, they want to get him. So they've attacked the kidnapping statutes."
Rivera plans to appeal to the state Supreme Court in hopes of getting a new trial, Smith said.
Delaware County Prosecutor Michelle Hutton said that, when the new offense of interference with custody of children was added in 1973, accompanying changes to the kidnapping law cleared the way for a parent to be charged.
"This is the first case where a father took a child with the intent to terrorize another, which is the exact language of the kidnapping statute," she said.
The three-judge panel wrote that "current law plainly provides that any 'person' may be convicted of kidnapping; it does not exempt a parent."
Court records indicate that Rivera forced his way into Katelyn's day-care center and took her Aug. 10, 1999, then phoned her mother, Jennifer Helton, to say that she would never see Katelyn again if she did not meet alone with him.