3 Boys Abducted in ’93 and Taken to Mexico Returned to Oxnard : Crime: D.A.’s office employs The Hague Convention to reunite children with their mother. The father is not expected to be extradited to face charges.

Three Oxnard boys abducted nearly two years ago were returned to their mother Friday when California prosecutors for the first time employed provisions of The Hague Convention to return children wrongfully taken to Mexico.

Mexican officials are not expected to extradite the boys’ father to the United States so he can be prosecuted on child-abduction charges, but Ventura County prosecutors said they met their primary goal.

“Our chief concern was getting the kids,” Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald D. Coleman said. “I understand the children are quite happy. They’ve been reunited with their mother and their grandmother.”

The boys’ mother, Patricia Hernandez, had primary custody of the children--now ages 11, 9 and 5--when they were abducted Aug. 21, 1993, from Oxnard, prosecutors said. With the help of the FBI, the boys were located in March in Valle de Santiago, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Coleman said his office worked closely with the Central Authority in Mexico City to recover the children. Invoking terms of The Hague Convention, prosecutors won permission to retrieve the children from their father after Mexican officials were satisfied that the boys had been abducted.

“This office is dedicated to locating and returning abducted children to their rightful parent,” Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said. “As this case shows, we will go anywhere in the world to accomplish that goal.”

Parties to The Hague Convention have agreed that a child taken to or hidden in another country will be promptly returned to the country of habitual residence.

Mexico became a signatory to the convention in October, 1991.

Patricia Hernandez and Ruben Nava Hernandez were separated when the boys were abducted. Coleman said his office believes Ruben Hernandez planned the abduction, noting that Hernandez quit his job prior to disappearing with the boys during a scheduled weekend visitation.

Ruben Hernandez, 31, then took the children to Mexico, where he became a rancher, Coleman said.

Coleman said that while his office worked with Mexican officials to get permission to retrieve the children, efforts were made to keep the father from knowing what was happening until the last minute.

“We certainly didn’t send him a letter saying we’re coming to get the children,” Coleman said.

The 5-year-old has no memory of his mother but warmed up to her during a 90-minute car ride in Mexico, the prosecutor said. When the family members arrived in the United States, they were greeted at the airport by aunts, uncles and cousins in what Coleman described as a very emotional scene.

Coleman said the children will be evaluated to determine whether they need help in readjusting.