The Trump administration deployed a Department of Justice plane to Cuba this week to retrieve a 10-year-old Utah child caught in an international custody dispute involving allegations of gender transition surgery plans. The unprecedented federal intervention came after Rose Inessa-Ethington, a transgender woman, allegedly took the child to Cuba without permission from the biological mother.
International Kidnapping Charges Filed
Rose Inessa-Ethington and her partner Blue Inessa-Ethington face federal charges of international parental kidnapping after allegedly deceiving the biological mother about a March camping trip to Canada. Instead, the couple turned off their phones and flew from Vancouver through Mexico to Havana on April 1. FBI agents discovered Blue withdrew $10,000 before leaving and found a note at their home referencing instructions from a Washington D.C. mental health therapist regarding gender-affirming care for children, though the note didn’t mention Cuba specifically.
Cuba Search Ends With Federal Retrieval
Logan Police Chief Jeff Simmons said his department initially focused on custodial interference allegations before learning about concerns over potential gender-affirming surgery from a family member. Cuban law enforcement located the group on April 16, the same day a federal magistrate issued arrest warrants. The government plane brought the adults back to face arraignment in Richmond, Virginia on Monday, while the 10-year-old returned to the biological mother in Utah. The fate of Blue’s 3-year-old child who traveled with them remains unclear, as federal officials declined to comment.
Surgery Allegations Remain Unverified
Court documents don’t establish whether the couple actually planned to obtain gender-affirming surgery in Cuba, which isn’t legal for children there. Logan police spokesperson Sergeant Brandon Bevan acknowledged investigators had no physical evidence supporting the surgery concerns raised by one family member. The custody battle between the parents predates this incident by years. An online fundraiser created five years ago by Blue Inessa-Ethington titled “Help a Trans Mother Keep Custody of Her Child” raised $9,766, indicating longstanding disputes over parental rights and the child’s care.
Federal Response Raises Questions
The deployment of a DOJ aircraft for a parental kidnapping case represents unusual federal involvement in what typically remains a state matter. The move follows the Trump administration’s broader push to restrict access to gender-affirming care for minors and pressure health care providers on the issue. A Utah state judge ordered the child’s return on April 13, three days before federal authorities intervened with arrest warrants and coordinated with Cuban law enforcement. The Inessa-Ethingtons will be extradited to Utah to face trial on the international kidnapping charges.
