The husband of Sherri Papini said his family had been “traumatized” by her infamous kidnapping hoax, in which the California mom falsely claimed she was abducted by two women.
“The whole problem started in November 2016 when Sherri left our children at a daycare and simply disappeared. Both I and, especially, our children were traumatized by her disappearance and I spent much time and money trying to find my wife,” Keith Papini wrote in a declaration for the Shasta County Family Court, which was obtained by the Sacramento Bee and the Associated Press.
“The trauma inflicted on our children at the unexpected loss of their mother was heartbreaking,” Keith added.
The declaration states that the fallout from the kidnapping hoax has “kept life in turmoil” for the family ever since.
It adds that Sherri was “literally tackled by law enforcement agents” who arrested her.
In his April 20 divorce filing, Keith filed for sole custody of the pair’s two children.
The filing states that Sherri “has not been acting in a rational manner” of late, referencing her guilty plea.
Two days after the filing, Keith said, “I wish to make it clear that my goal is to provide a loving, safe, stable environment for the pair’s children and I believe the requested orders are consistent with that goal and the best interests of the children. I do not want to say anything in the pleadings connected to this matter that would inflame the situation or attract media attention.”
Keith filed for divorce two days after Sherri, 39, entered guilty pleas via Zoom to one count each of lying to a federal officer and mail fraud. Her sentencing is scheduled for July 11.
In a statement released by her attorney, Sherri said she was “deeply ashamed of myself for my behavior and so sorry for the pain I’ve caused my family, my friends, all the good people who needlessly suffered because of my story and those who worked so hard to try to help me. I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done.”
Sherri’s story began on Nov. 2, 2016, when she said she’d gone out for a jog in her Redding neighborhood and was kidnapped by two armed, masked Hispanic women, whom she claimed had tortured her, branded her and kept her chained in a bedroom.
She was found wandering in a parking lot 22 days later, on Thanksgiving Day. Her family, including her children then ages 2 and 4, welcomed her back and the community of Redding, which had spent days searching for her, largely rallied around her.
But after investigating her purported kidnapping, the authorities found that Sherri had fabricated the incident and had been hiding out with an ex-boyfriend in Southern California.
When confronted by authorities, the ex-boyfriend allegedly admitted that he had helped Sherri “run away” because she had told him that her husband had abused her.
After Sherri returned from her hoax kidnapping, Keith publicly supported her claims.
In 2016, describing her false account of escaping from captivity, Keith told ABC’s 20/20, “She screamed so much, she said she was coughing up blood from the screaming, trying to get someone to stop. Again, just another sign of how my wife is, she’s so wonderful. She says maybe people aren’t stopping because I have a chain, it looks like I broke out of prison, so she tried to tuck in her chain under the clothes,” he said.
