SLEEPY EYE — A 27-year-old Sleepy Eye man earlier convicted of felony custody deprivation was sentenced in Brown County District Court June 21.

Vicente Flores Jr., 221 Summit St. S.E. received a stay of imposition, was fined $585 and sentenced to 15 days local confinement, Huber privileges if appropriate; can do Sentence to Service in lieu of jail, was placed on three years supervised probation and ordered to complete the “Thinking for a Change” cognitive skills program, may not use or possess firearms, ammunition of explosives or vote or register to vote until his civil rights are fully restored.

A similar felony count was dismissed.

According to the complaint, Sleepy Eye Police were dispatched to a child custody call on April 10, 2020 at 221 Summit St. S.E. At the scene, a woman told police Flores had her child and would not return the child after she dropped the child off at his residence that morning.

The woman said she wanted Flores to have some time with the child but she planned to keep the child during the COVID-19 stay in place quarantine, according to the child’s doctors’ recommendations.

Neither Flores or the child’s mother were able to provide police with a court order establishing custody or parenting time. Police were not aware at the time that Flores signed a recognition of parentage after the child’s birth, and therefore had no custody or parenting time with the child.

At a Sept. 2, 2020 child support hearing in Brown County, Flores testified he had had “custodial rights” to the child but refused to return the child to the woman despite her asking him to return the child to her on several occasions, and that he refused and continues to refuse to return the child to her.