Man Gets 18 Months For Kidnapping

Associated Press, April 11, 2000

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A man who became the subject of a nationwide manhunt when he and his wife kidnapped their malnourished son from a hospital has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Christopher and Kyndra Fink were accused of starving their son, David, for religious reasons. Authorities said the pair believed the child was the "Christ child" and fed him only watermelon and lettuce to keep him pure.

The Finks - now divorced - sparked a nationwide manhunt in 1998 when they took their 21-month-old boy from a Utah hospital, where he had been taken by relatives for treatment of severe malnutrition. Police found the couple 16 days later, living in a tent in the mountains of Montana.

Fink pleaded guilty to child abuse and attempted aggravated assault for his part in his son's malnourishment and kidnapping. He was given credit for 404 days already served, so his remaining sentence will be about five months.

Judge Roger Bean also ordered Fink to take any necessary medication to deal with a possible "major thought disorder."

Fink's former wife is scheduled for sentencing April 24. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend no more than 90 days in jail.

The couple's two children remain in foster care.

Note: See the following statement issued by the TLC about the Finks