Abducted Clayton boys registered on national criminal justice list

Authorities can use designation to urge Japanese to send sons back to father.

$Kent Swaim of Clayton has been awarded full custody of his two sons. He hasn't seen them in two years, since his former wife took the kids to her native Japan. \uFEFFHe reached them last Monday through Skype for the first time in a month. Staff photo by Lisa Powell$

Staff photo by Lisa Powell Kent Swaim of Clayton has been awarded full custody of his two sons. He hasn't seen them in two years, since his former wife took the kids to her native Japan. \uFEFFHe reached them last Monday through Skype for the first time in a month. Staff photo by Lisa Powell

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By Mary McCarty, Staff Writer Updated 1:27 AM Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Clayton father Kent Swaim has won an important victory in his quest to be reunited with the two young sons he hasn’t seen since his former wife fled with them to her native Japan two years ago.

The boys finally have been registered with The FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC), a computerized index of criminal justice information, including missing children.

Swaim’s plight was featured in an Aug. 15 Dayton Daily News story. The Wright-Patterson Air Force Base master sergeant had long been frustrated by his inability to convince authorities to enter the children in the database.

“This gives the U.S. State Department and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children the tools they need to help me and take this next step,” Swaim said. “It gives them the authority to plead with the Japanese authorities to do something.”

Montgomery County Domestic Relations Court Judge Judith King has awarded Swaim full custody of sons William, 10, and James, 5, but his former wife, Miyuki Swaim, hasn’t complied with the court order to return the boys to the United States. Swaim doesn’t know their address or phone number in Okinawa, but was repeatedly told that the boys still didn’t meet the criteria for inclusion in the NCIC database because they were known to be safe.

Lt. Matt Hamlin of the Clayton Police Department credited officers from the Montgomery County Dispatch Center with convincing NCIC officials to grant permission to register the Swaim boys. “It’s what we’ve been waiting for,” Hamlin said. “Now the State Department can work with Interpol and the Japanese government for the return of the boys.”

Swaim’s attorney, Anne Shale, said he has been fighting for the boys for more than two years with little success. “This gives him hope,” she said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2209 or mmccarty@Dayton DailyNews.com.

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