The mother of an autistic 11-year-old boy missing for months no longer has to show up in Brooklyn Family Court to answer questions about his whereabouts, a judge ruled Tuesday — despite cops fearing the child is a victim of foul play.
The ruling means that Jacqueline Pritchett, described by police sources as mentally ill, is free for now of any legal obligations regarding the investigation into the mysterious disappearance of her son Jacob Pritchett.
Pritchett has denied to authorities she ever had a child, even after being confronted with proof otherwise. After being held in contempt of court at Rikers Island for more than two months, Pritchett’s lawyers succeeded earlier this month in convincing a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge that she was being improperly held as punishment for exercising her right not to answer questions about Jacob’s whereabouts.
The NYPD weeks ago released a sketch and computer-generated image of Jacob, who is nonverbal, plus a mugshot of his mother and asked the public’s help figuring out where he is and what happened to him. A relative last saw the boy in January.
A search of an upstate landfill, where trash from the dumpster outside the family’s Brownsville apartment is taken, turned up no evidence of Jacob, but police still believe he was the victim of foul play.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News; NYPD
Police released a computer-generated image of Jacob Pritchett (inset), who was reported missing from Jacqueline Pritchett’s residence on Howard Ave. in Brooklyn on Oct. 3. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News; NYPD)
Jacqueline Pritchett has contended she does not have any children and that she doesn’t know who Jacob is. Brooklyn Family Court Judge Dawn Orsatti has ruled that Jacob does exist and that Jacqueline Pritchett is his mother.
When cops and Administration for Children’s Services workers were inside her apartment on Oct. 1, Prichett said the toys in various closets belonged to her and that she is Jesus Christ, according to court documents.
She also claimed to be a virgin and a single woman, after first referring to herself a single mother, according to the documents.
Orsatti noted that nothing has changed since then, with Pritchett still providing no information about Jacob.
“It’s been three months,” Orsatti said Tuesday as Pritchett, her lawyers and ACS staffers appeared virtually in his court. “I don’t think at this point Family Court is the appropriate venue for this matter.”
The judge noted that if new information about Jacob is learned ACS can again ask that the mother be held in contempt.
