Kidnapping Charge Against Charles Partin Dismissed

Prosecutors are asking that federal kidnapping charges against a man accused of abducting his teenaged stepdaughter be dismissed.  It is now up to the state to decide if non-federal charges will be filed against Charles Dean Partin. 

Meanwhile, a federal grand jury has indicted Partin on allegations he transported a stolen car across state lines while on the run with his wife and six of the couple's children. During a hearing held Wednesday morning Partin entered a not guilty plea to the theft charge.

Partin was arrested in Ohio September 22, five days after he allegedly went into a medical office at Southeast Alabama Medical Center and took 15-year old Aileen Lander.  The teen had been removed from the care of Partin and his wife, Julie Bethke, by the Alabama Department of Human Resources.  That followed an investigation into potential illegal sexual activity involving Partin that allegedly occurred in Tennessee. 

Bethke is accused of interfering with child custody and was recently extradited from Ohio to Dothan where she remains jailed.  Prosecutors allege she waited outside the hospital while Partin, described as her common-law husband, went to the fourth floor of the doctor's center where he abducted Lander.  The girl and five of her siblings were found unharmed when Bethke and Partin were arrested in Cincinnati.   

It's not immediately clear if charges will be filed against Partin at the local level.  Houston County District Attorney Douglas Albert Valeska could not be immediately reached for comment.   He is involved in criminal trials this week.

It's also not clear if additional charges, other than kidnapping, might be filed against Partin.