Anaheim Couple Plead Guilty in Son’s Kidnaping

An Anaheim couple accused of kidnaping their 4-year-old son from his foster home in February pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony count of child abduction and were sentenced to jail terms.

Yaser and Deborah Jayyusi entered their pleas during a brief appearance in Municipal Court in Laguna Niguel and were immediately sentenced by Judge Pamela L. Iles.

Yaser Jayyusi, 55, received 240 days in Orange County Jail, while Deborah Jayyusi, 35, received 60 days. Both also received three years of probation and were ordered to make restitution and abide by Juvenile Court orders involving their son, Taj, and a younger daughter.

In addition, Iles ordered Yaser Jayyusi to stay away from Susan White, Taj’s foster mother, and said he would be sent to state prison if he becomes verbally abusive with any person involved in the case.

White, a special education teacher who had started proceedings to adopt the boy before he was abducted, was in the courtroom for the hearing.

“I think she’s relieved to have the proceedings over,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Kelly MacEachern said. “She would have liked to have more jail time. . . . But it closes out one part of the case.”

MacEachern said she too would have liked to see a longer jail sentence, but was satisfied with the stringent probation terms and pleased that Taj will be spared having to testify at a trial.

“It is good for Taj, hopefully,” she said of the resolution.

Yaser Jayyusi received more jail time because he was seen as being more “culpable,” MacEachern said.

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Defense attorney Lisa Kopelman, who represented Deborah Jayyusi, declined to elaborate on reasons for the Jayyusis’ pleas. Attorney Max DeLiema, who represented Yaser Jayyusi, could not be reached for comment.

Taj was taken from his foster home in Rancho Santa Margarita about 10:30 a.m. Feb. 12 as he played in a garage converted into a playroom. His parents were arrested six days later in Cerritos as Yaser Jayyusi, who worked as a security guard, tried to pick up his paycheck. The boy was with them at the time, police said.

Authorities initially said they feared the couple might try to flee the country with the boy. Yaser Jayyusi is a Jordanian national.

Taj and a 2-year-old sister entered foster care two years ago after being taken from the Jayyusis because of allegations of physical abuse, according to social services officials and court records.

Taj was abducted just days before a court hearing to determine whether his parents would be stripped of their parental rights. The status of those proceedings has been sealed, lawyers in the case said Tuesday.