Father charged in Monterey Park teen girl’s disappearance
Charges have been filed against the father of a 15-year-old girl from Monterey Park who went missing earlier this month, only to resurface outside of a local TV station.
Jeffery Chao, 40, is charged with one count of felony child stealing/concealment and one misdemeanor count of false report of an emergency after his daughter, Alison Chao, disappeared while traveling from her father’s home to her aunt’s house.
According to prosecutors, Alison Chao wasn’t missing to her father, who “stole/concealed his 15-year-old daughter and falsely reported her as missing to law enforcement.”
She wasn’t located again until July 23, when she was found outside a local TV station in Glendale.
Jeffery Chao was arrested Friday on those charges and an additional count of conspiracy, which appears to have been dropped.
“Falsely reporting a child as missing not only violates the law but also diverts critical law enforcement resources away from other serious matters,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a news release. “This type of behavior will not be tolerated, and we will hold the responsible individual accountable for his actions.”
Questions have been raised about Alison Chao’s disappearance and if it is related to her parents’ separation or custody battle, but in a statement, Annie Chao, Alison’s mother, said those questions have not yet been answered.
“There remain many open questions about Alison’s disappearance,” she said. “We still do not know where she was during the period of time she was missing, or whether someone was concealing her. I do not have and have never had any information about her whereabouts during her disappearance.”
Jeffery Chao made his first court appearance on Tuesday. He is being held at the Inmate Reception Center, jail records show.
If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
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