The California mother, who pleaded guilty in 2022 to accusations related to forgerying an accusation six years ago, returned to court, this time fighting her ex-husband for the right to visit with her two children.
“Our family has been tracked down by the media for eight years, creeping up, bullied and bullied,” Sheri Papini said in a court filing for a visiting hearing on Friday. According to KRCR. “I tried my best to focus on my children and stay private to heal from events that occurred. For years after my arrest, I was the primary caregiver for my children before I was in prison. My children have always been my main focus.”
Papini wants to be able to see the children again after eight years of stories that were attracting international press attention and were even the subject of Hulu documentaries.
Her ex-husband, Keith Papini, fights to protect her two children from her mother.
Attorneys on both sides sued their case before Judge Kathryn J. Burton of Shasta County Superior Court.
Sherri Papini left the child custody hearing on Friday, March 21, 2025 in Reading, California. Papini previously served 18 months in federal prison in 2016 for forged his own invitation. (Derek rocked for Fox News digital)
Famous California kidnapping Kidhoaxer Sheri Papini brings new life to the disappearance of 1998
In November 2016, Sheri Papini left Reading, California and left home to jog. She was tied up and beaten 22 days later, and had the brand on her shoulder 150 miles from her home.
For years, local and federal law enforcement agencies spent a huge amount of resources trying to resolve alleged crimes, but it turns out that Papini had been staying at Costa Mesa with her ex-boyfriend for the three weeks she went missing.
Sheri Papini's “missing” sign was posted while authorities searched for her for 22 days in 2016. (Andrew Seng/The Sacramento Bee via AP, file)
She finally links with her ex-boyfriend through DNA evidence, who cleans up with authorities and was charged in March 2022 with 35 count mail fraud and one count of lying to a federal officer.
Her husband, Keith Papini, filed for divorce and custody of the child shortly thereafter.
Later this year, she accepted a plea deal and admitted her guilt over one count of mail fraud and accusations of lying to federal officials.
California's Mama Sheri Papini endures something “feels like a life sentence,” lawyers say ahead of the sentence
She was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but was released in 2023, about 11 months behind bars.
Center's Sheri Papini left federal court on Monday, September 19, 2022, after sentenced her to 18 months in a federal prison in Sacramento, California. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)
Fox News Digital reached out to the attorneys of both parties.
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