Passaic Co. Mother Breaks Custody Agreement, Kids Missing For Hours: Prosecutor

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — A Passaic County woman was arrested last week after breaking a court order by taking her kids away for hours, the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office announced.

Irene Frazier, 39, of Paterson, was charged with three counts of interference with custody and one count of contempt of a court order.

On Friday, June 13, around 1:15 p.m., the Paterson Police Department received a call regarding three missing children who had been taken by their mother, who did not have legal custody of them at that time.

Several departments launched an investigation to locate the missing children, including the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, the New Jersey Transit Police, and the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit.

It wasn’t until 10 hours later, at around 11:30 p.m., that the children were found unharmed near Sandy Court and Christopher Columbus Drive in Paterson, officials said.

Authorities said Frazier was found and arrested about 20 minutes later in the same area.

The three children, ages 2, 7, and 10, were given to the Division of Child Protection and Permanency.

Frazier was released on pre-trial monitoring and is awaiting court proceedings, according to officials.

She faces up to five years in prison for each custody interference charge, and up to 18 months for the contempt of a court order charge.