Sukhwant Herb, a 29-year-old single mother from Brooklyn was just released after spending 19 days in a Rikers Island jail cell. A judge sentenced Herb because she refused to let her son visit his father, a convicted serial rapist serving time in an Arizona jail!
The Brooklyn mom jailed at Rikers Island for refusing to let her 9-year-old son visit his father – a serial rapist imprisoned in Arizona – was finally freed Tuesday night after 19 days of confinement.
Her first thought was of her children.
“I’m going to hug and kiss them,” said Sukhwant Herb, as she emerged from Brooklyn Supreme Court – still wearing black prison sneakers. “I miss them so much and I’m so happy to be out. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody.”
But in this bizarre case, Herb, 29, was kept prisoner for 25 hours after Brooklyn Family Court Judge Robin Sheares issued the original order for her release Monday evening, after the Daily News reported her plight Sunday.
Sheares was the judge who tossed Herb in jail in the first place, handing down a 50-day minimum sentence on June 10 after Herb defied an order to allow Seon Jr. to visit his dad in prison.
The release paperwork was not sent to Rikers Island until yesterday morning. So Herb remained a prisoner throughout yesterday – first at Rikers, and then in a holding pen at Brooklyn Supreme Court – until Sheares called a hearing at 5:10 p.m.
Herb sat in the courtroom, stone-faced, during the brief procedure, in which she was released into her lawyer’s custody and ordered to return to court July 29.
Sheares tossed Herb into jail after she violated the order – having a change of heart after originally agreeing to it – without offering bail consideration.
The judge’s move, and comments in court, sparked outrage in the city’s legal community, especially since Herb was not charged with a crime and has no criminal record.
Tuesday night, Herb’s lawyer Dale Frederick said he will demand Sheares be removed from the case.
Seon Jonas, 31, the father of Herb’s son, was convicted in 2003 of raping three women in Phoenix. He obtained the visitation order last year.
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