Dear Elaine Chiu,

Immediately after I was first arrested on June 11, 1997, I informed my newly assigned counsel that I wished to have criminal prosecutions instituted against Dorchen Leidholdt and Sister Theresa Courtney and their organization, Sanctuary for Families, Inc. My attorney advised me to wait until after the cases against me had been resolved, and indeed I have done so.

I wish to have Dorchen Leidholdt and Sister Theresa Courtney and several of their associates criminally indicted for kidnapping, extortion, making false statements to law enforcement authorities and various other offenses. I also wish to have Charles and Shelby Roberts indicted for the kidnapping of my daughter, Shamema Honzagool Sloan, who was born in New York City and was later kidnapped and taken to Virginia.

There can be no doubt that these crimes have been committed. The fact that my then 8-year-old daughter disappeared from the front yard of my home in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates and was next seen in the home of Charles and Shelby Roberts in the United States of America only 36 hours later, all the while the mother of the child being in Pakistan, plus the airline tickets purchased by the Roberts and the other documents I have, constitutes conclusive proof that the Roberts did in fact kidnap my daughter, Shamema. I had legal custody of my daughter, by order of a New York judge, at that time.

Similarly, the fact that my sons, Michael Rankoth Sloan and George Rankoth Sloan, were picked up at my home in San Francisco, California and brought to New York City on or about May 1, 1995, without the involvement of the mother or the father and without the benefit of any lawful court proceeding, proves that my sons, Michael and George, were kidnapped.

The kidnappings of Michael and George were engineered by Sanctuary for Families, Inc. and their counsel, Rosemonde Pierre-Louis. I understand that Dorchen Leidholdt was her supervisor.

These kidnappings are part of a pattern. Dorchen Leidholdt and her associates kidnap children all the time. When I first learned of the existence of their criminal organization in 1991, I was told that many men had lost their families due to these people. Another source, Charlotte Horowitz, a former top official of the New York City Department of Social Services, told me that it would be useless to try to find my children because, "Sanctuary for Families will make a person disappear to such an extent that it appears that the person no longer exists."

This statement was made when I was searching for my children in 1991. I now know what had happened to them. In June, 1991, was sitting in my car in front of the Jamaica Arms Hotel in Jamaica, Queens, waiting for my children, Michael, age 2, and George, age 1, to be brought out. I had checked them into that hotel the previous evening. Meanwhile, however, Sister Theresa Courtney took them out of the back door of the hotel, put them in a van and took off with them.

In spite of an intensive search, it took me four years to find them. I finally located them in March, 1995, living in horrifying conditions in absolute squalor in a housing project the South Bronx. There were thousands of cockroaches in the apartment, plus mice and other vermin, and one of the sinks had a layer of grease fully two inches thick at the bottom. I spent two weeks cleaning up the apartment and getting rid of the smell. Finally, their mother, Dayawathie Rankoth, asked me to take the two boys, Michael and George, with me to California, because they were too difficult to handle. She insisted that I leave our third child, Anusha, who had been born during the four year period when I did not know where they were, with her.

I did in fact take the children to California with the full permission of their mother, who even bought them a new set of clothing, matching outfits for the trip. The mother told me not to tell Sanctuary for Families and especially not to tell Theresa, and I did not do so. However, three weeks after our arrival in California, Theresa found out that I had taken the children to California, not from the mother who had concealed this fact from her, but from the Department of Social Services who revealed that information to her (perhaps in violation of Social Services law). The reason was that the two boys were wild and uncontrollable and for that reason I had asked the Social Services Agency in California for assistance. I could not keep them in a normal home because they were too destructive. I tried living with them in my regular home San Francisco, a photo of which incidentally I have posted in the world Wide Web at the address http://www.samsloan.com/webster.htm , but they broke too many things.

When I went to the Social Services Agency with my sons, I naturally informed them that they had previously had been in the Bronx. The Alameda California Social Services Agency informed the New York City Department of Social Services, which thereupon cut the welfare check which Dayawathie Rankoth was receiving, due to the fact that two of her children were in California. Sister Theresa Courtney found out about this and her organization accused me of kidnapping the two boys. They had me arrested at my home at 2550 Webster Street in San Francisco, which is a beautiful, luxurious and famous 28 room mansion (a photo of the house in which I was arrested and living with my two sons is posted at http://www.ishipress.com/bourne.htm ) and had the two boys picked up and brought to New York. I was never charged with any crime. I was never even taken before a judge. However, by the time I got out of jail, my two boys had been taken to New York.

In addition, Dayawathie Rankoth was then pregnant with our fourth child. Sanctuary for Families made her have an abortion. Dayawathie has told me many times that the attorney for Sanctuary for Families had the abortion doctor save a tissue sample of the aborted child so that they could use this as evidence to bring a case against me. Dayawathie immediately thereafter became pregnant with another man's child, and that is how Geeta came to be born.

In order to get me arrested, Sanctuary for Families, through their attorney, made a false filing with the New York Family Court. Not only did they falsely accuse me of kidnapping the two boys, but they said that this had occurred at the boy's residence of 410 West 40th Street, New York NY 10036.

In fact, neither the boys nor their mother had ever resided at that address or anywhere in Manhattan for that matter. They had resided at 905 Tinton Avenue, Apt. 4D, Bronx. The reason for providing this false address was not to conceal the actual address, because, of course, they knew that I knew the actual address, but rather to get this case assigned to Judge Bruce M. Kaplan. Sanctuary for Families knew that Judge Bruce M. Kaplan has a personal dislike for me arising from dealings I had had with him back in 1982 which had led me to file suit against him in New York Supreme Court at that time. In 1982, Judge Kaplan had been a judge in the case of my daughter, Shamema. They knew that Judge Kaplan was going to give me a good screwing if he ever got me in another case before him. However, Judge Kaplan was sitting in Manhattan, not in the Bronx. Therefore, in order to get this case before Judge Kaplan, they gave a false Manhattan address as the place of occurrence of the "crime".

This is illegal, in case you didn't know that.

I am enclosing a copy of their complaint. You can see that it is clearly written that the place of occurrence is 410 West 40th Street. I have never been to that address and do not even know what that address is.

They asked Judge Kaplan for a writ of habeas corpus. Judge Kaplan had no jurisdiction to grant such a writ, because the children were not in New York State. It is well established law that a writ of habeas corpus can only be brought in the jurisdiction where the children are to be found. Judge Kaplan granted the writ anyway, presumably because of the false representations made by Sanctuary for Families.

Immediately after having my two sons picked up in California and brought to New York, Sanctuary for Families dismissed their own case. When I came to New York and tried to have a hearing set in that case, I found that I could not do so because the case had been dismissed.

These maneuvers are typical of Sanctuary for Families. They do this all the time. They bring a false case, get it before a judge known to them rather than a normal randomly assigned judge, disappear with the kids and then drop the case, all without a hearing before any court. They did this in 1995 and now they have done it again in 1997 in the cases assigned to you which has just been dismissed on your motion.

In the most recent case, you apparently have played the tape which was found on my person at the time of my arrest and therefore you obviously must know that the charges against me were false and fabricated. Here are a few quotes from that tape (Dayawathie Rankoth is speaking):

"Are you going to give me $30 or $40? I'll give you the key to come to my house."

"They knocked me down and put a bump on my chest."

"I'm really scared of that people now."

"Brenda, do you know how to write a check. I stole his checkbook last night. I'm going to steal every penny out of it."

"Do you want me to call the police on you?"

"I have a lot of problems in my head now."

"I'm going to call the police. I'm going to tell them you knocked my door with the 17 year old girl. I'm going to tell my kids to tell that too. ...... She knows how to make a case. She knows it. ...... See, you don't listen to me, what I'm going to do. ........ I'll put your ass in jail tomorrow. ...... Now, give me the money."

"I told the lady [Dorchen Leidholdt] I want to drop the court case. .......... She told me that was not a good idea. ..... She told me that I have to wait until the court date. ...... I don't want to move."

"I told her I wanted to keep it. Why asked me why. What do you mean, "why" you know. ........ She wants to know what I am going to do with the apartment. She have a place for me ..... She asked me if I want to go to the shelter. ..... The psychiatrist told me you know that's good for me the kids to keep them in one place, to solve the problems in my head. She told me no. .... I told her I can't give up my apartment. I want to keep my apartment."

Throughout this tape, Dayawathie Rankoth repeatedly threatened me that if I did not give her money, she was going to tell that I have come with my 17-year-old girl friend and knocked on the door to her apartment, and to have me arrested.

In fact, as you know, she subsequently did exactly that. The complaint before you says that I came to her apartment with my 17-year-old girlfriend and that we forced our way into her apartment.

In reality, my "17-year-old girlfriend" has never been to that apartment and has never even met Dayawathie Rankoth, although they have spoken to each other on the telephone.

In the tape, she several times says that the lock has been changed on the door to her apartment [by Sanctuary for Families] but she will give me the new key provided that I give her $30 or $40. I did in fact subsequently give her $30 and she gave me the new key in return. However, in the complaint filed with you, the claim was made that I had stolen the key off of her key chain.

As you know, the case against me was dropped eventually for lack of a corroborating affidavit. It is obvious that the reason that she could not sign a corroborating affidavit was that the tape proved that the charges against me were not true. On the other hand, had I not made the tape, I might easily have been convicted and I might be in jail right now.

In fact, there were two more tapes. The other two tapes had previously been taken out of my coat pocket while I was sleeping and later played to Dorchen Leidholdt. Dayawathie told me that Dorchen Leidholdt told her, after listening to the tapes, to destroy them. This happened before Dorchen Leidholdt had me arrested the first time. Thus, Dorchen Leidholdt knew all along that the case against me was false.

As you know, I was arrested twice. I was held in jail for 12 days the first time and one day the second time. I got out the first time when Dayawathie Rankoth failed to appear in court. Yet, on the tape she says that she told Dorchen Leidholdt that she wanted to drop the court case against me. This happened about two weeks before I was arrested the first time. Dorchen Leidholdt had told her that she would have to wait until the next court date, which was fully one month later. This was false. Dorchen Leidholdt could have dropped the case at any time. Dorchen Leidholdt did not want to drop the case, and that is the only reason it was not dropped.

The first time that I was arrested, I was held in jail for 12 days on $25,000 bond. The reason that such a high bond was set, higher than that set in some murder cases, was that ADA Natalie Jacoby made a series of false statements to the judge. In fact, ADA Jacoby asked that bond be set in the amount of $50,000. All of this was based on false information which had obviously been supplied to ADA Jacoby by Dorchen Leidholdt and Charles and Shelby Roberts. Not a word of what ADA Jacoby said to the judge was true.

Among the false statements was that I was wanted or had been convicted of crimes in 22 countries of the world, that I had kidnapped a little 7 year old girl and that I had kidnapped my own two sons. None of these statements were true. I have never been convicted of or even charged with a crime in any other country of the world. If I am wanted in 22 countries of the world, it is only because Dorchen Leidholdt and Charles and Shelby Roberts have contacted those countries and made false charges against me, just as they have been successful in having false charges brought against me by you. In the past, Charles and Shelby Roberts and Dorchen Leidholdt have had me arrested in such diverse places as Guam, Honolulu, San Francisco and Bangkok, Thailand. Yet, I have never been formally charged with a crime in any of those places.

It is readily apparent that the actual kidnappers of my children are Dorchen Leidholdt and Charles and Shelby Roberts. They have had me arrested a total of about 15 times. Now it is time for them to be arrested instead. However, if they are arrested , they will not get out so easily as I did, because there is overwhelming evidence that they are manifestly guilty of kidnapping.

Meanwhile, my wife, Dayawathie Rankoth (and we are legally married, by the way) and our three children have disappeared again. As you can see from the tape, she says repeatedly that she does not want to give up her apartment. Nevertheless, Dorchen Leidholdt did finally succeed in forcing her to move. They may have left the country or they may be in another state. I now face the prospect of having to spend another four years searching for my family again, just as I spent four years looking for them during the period from 1991 to 1995. Moreover, if and when I finally do find them, Dorchen Leidholdt will try to have me arrested and falsely charged with a crime again.

It is a crime to provide false information to law enforcement authorities to get a person arrested, especially when the motive for these false arrests is to get custody of that person's children, as here. There is not the slightest doubt that these people are guilty. Moreover, Dorchen Leidholdt has put hundreds of men in jail, and no doubt many of them were just as innocent as I was.

She makes a living off of this, soliciting state, federal and charitable funds in connection with her efforts supposedly to provide assistance to battered women. In my case, she obviously knew that the charges she was bringing against me were false. She has been harassing me with litigation since 1991. She has had six years to investigate me. How many other of her cases are like that? She calls herself a feminist activist and has written a book on what she calls "feminism", but it is clear that what she really wants is to bring indictments against the entire male species.

Charles and Shelby Roberts had my daughter Shamema, kidnapped and taken to Virginia, when I had prior legal custody of my daughter in New York State. They need to be extradited to New York and made to stand trial on kidnapping charges. Again, there is not even the remotest doubt that they are guilty. The evidence is overwhelming.

Accordingly, I demand that criminal prosecutions be brought in these cases. I demand the right to have my evidence presented to a grand jury.

Very Truly Yours,

Ismail Sloan

Here is a link: The Bourne Mansion