A Wisconsin man, Clyde Lewis Springfield, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for international parental kidnapping after taking his four children to South Africa in 2021 and failing to return two of them as required by a custody agreement. The announcement was made by Brad D. Schimel, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
According to court documents, Springfield left the United States with his children on October 29, 2021. He did not return two of them on November 3, 2021, violating the terms of their child custody arrangement. Travel records confirmed that he traveled to South Africa and did not board the scheduled return flight with his children. A federal criminal complaint was filed against him on November 24, 2021.
Authorities located and rescued the children in South Africa on March 16, 2022. They were safely returned to the United States. After an international extradition process involving cooperation between U.S. and South African law enforcement agencies, Springfield was extradited back to the United States and arrested on November 20, 2025.
If convicted of international parental kidnapping, Springfield could face up to three years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to one year of supervised release.
The investigation is being conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the West Allis Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the United States Marshals Service (USMS). The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs coordinated with South African authorities during the arrest and extradition process. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan J. Thomas is prosecuting the case.
"This investigation is a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice," according to information provided by officials. "Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims." Additional details about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.
