Woman Accused of Abducting Son in 1989 Arrested

A woman living in Chatsworth was arrested by U.S. marshals for the alleged abduction 14 years ago of her son, whose father had sole legal custody in Canada.

Gisele Marie Goudreault, 45, was led in handcuffs Wednesday morning from the apartment that she shared with the boy, now 17.

Goudreault, who had been using the last name Johnson, had been working for about four years as an administrative office employee for a San Fernando Valley school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, said U.S. Marshals Deputy Jimell Griffin.

Her son, who will be 18 in June, was turned over to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. Goudreault is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown L.A. pending extradition to Canada.

“She was upset, crying,” Griffin said. “The boy was upset and distraught, especially since he had to be turned over to the county, since there’s no other family members [in the area]....And he was seeing his mother being taken away in handcuffs.”

The boy was 3 when his mother had taken him from Rodney Steinmann, a resident of Red Deer, Alberta, Griffin said.

Steinmann and Goudreault, who were not married, shared custody of their son for a time until the father was awarded full custody, Griffin said.

On June 2, 1989, the Alberta Canada Court of Justice issued an arrest warrant for Goudreault after she had disappeared with the toddler.

On Feb. 4, U.S. immigration officials alerted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that Goudreault, using the false name, had given their agency her permanent address in Los Angeles.

“We believe she may have contacted immigration either to change her legal status or update it,” Griffin said.

“When she made contact, she did provide the true name of her kid,” Griffin said.

“We don’t know if that was an error, or she figured it’s 14 years later, no one’s going to remember.”

Griffin said it appeared that Goudreault and her son had lived in Mexico for several years before coming to Los Angeles. She had married and divorced twice since leaving Canada, he said.

If convicted in Canada, Goudreault faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, Griffin said.