Utah Mother Charged with Kidnapping Boy Over Bullying

A Provo, Utah, mother faces felony charges after allegedly forcing an 11-year-old boy into her vehicle and taking him to her home to apologize for bullying her child, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Utah County Attorney's Office. Shannon Tufuga, 40, was charged on March 23 with one count each of child kidnapping and aggravated child abuse, both classified as second-degree felonies.

The incident occurred on September 17 in a Provo neighborhood, where prosecutors say Tufuga drove around searching for the boy, identified in court documents as KB, whom she believed had been bullying her sixth-grade son. Court records state that Tufuga spotted the boy riding his bicycle, stopped her vehicle in front of him and compelled him to enter the car. Without the knowledge or permission of the boy's parents, she transported him to her nearby home, where she required him to apologize to her son. The boy complied with the apology, but the encounter escalated when Tufuga allegedly threatened to have her husband assault him and remarked that he was fortunate she had not driven over his bicycle.

Prosecutors allege that Tufuga then drove the boy to his home in Orem, about 10 miles...