Australian actress Melissa George is facing attempted kidnapping charges in France, as she battles former partner, entrepreneur Jean-David Blanc, for custody of their two children.
The alleged incident occurred last September, when the star of Grey’s Anatomy and The Good Wife attempted to board a private plane for the U.S. with her sons, and French border police led them off.
Blanc has since pressed charges for attempted kidnapping, claiming George was trying to violate an arrangement that neither would take the children out of the country without the other’s written permission.
George herself has not commented, but her lawyer Christophe Ayela has told media that the trip was arranged before the couple’s separation last year, and adding:
“There was no kidnapping attempt. Ms George did not know that there was a legal travel ban placed on the children.”
The pair’s relationship ended last September 7, when George presented at a Parisian police station in the early hours of the morning showing facial injuries, and pressed assault charges against Blanc.
Blanc also pressed assault charges against George, showing scratches on his body as evidence she attacked him, and a judge ultimately said it was “impossible” to know who had started the altercation, and convicted both parties.
The court ordered Blanc to pay George 1000 euros in damages, and ordered her to pay him one euro, with a suspended fine of 5000 euros. Both parties reportedly plan to appeal.
The pair currently have a joint custody arrangement, and the children are to spend alternating weeks with their mother and father, and per a family court order, written consent is required for them to leave the country.
“It’s terrible for her career, disastrous,” Ayela said of the order. “The two children are forbidden to leave the country without the written consent of the father. And of course he refuses to allow this.”
Ayela claimed that the order compromises George’s ability to work as an actress, saying: ‘How can she be back to France every second week if she works abroad? It’s a ridiculous decision.”
Photo: Kevin Tachman / Getty.
