Man accused of abducting son in 1987 pleads not guilty

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A Canadian man accused of abducting his toddler son in 1987 and disappearing for 31 years before being arrested in Connecticut last month pleaded not guilty Monday to U.S. charges related to his life on the run.

Allan Mann Jr. made a brief appearance in federal court in New Haven.

A grand jury recently indicted him on charges that he made false statements about his identity in obtaining federally funded housing aid and Medicaid services. He also faces an abduction charge in Toronto, where authorities say he kidnapped his 21-month-old son, Jermaine, during a court ordered visit in 1987.

Mann, 66, who has dual Canadian and Ghanaian citizenship, was arrested last month in Vernon, Connecticut, where he was living under the name Hailee DeSouza, police said.

Mann's son, now 33, has been reunited with his mother after believing she died years ago.

Mann is being detained without bail. His public defender, Ross Thomas, said they had no plans to ask for pretrial release. Thomas said he is referring to his client as Mr. Mann, "although his identity is a question in this case," The Hartford Courant reported.

Dressed in a brown prison suit and handcuffed in court, Mann was escorted by two U.S. marshals, the newspaper reported. A judge set jury selection for Jan. 7. He is expected to be extradited to Canada after the U.S. case is resolved.

After running off with his son on June 24, 1987, Mann entered the U.S. — where he had relatives — and obtained fake identification for himself and his son, including bogus Texas birth certificates, officials said.

An arrest warrant affidavit prepared by a federal agent does not fill in the gap between 1987 and 2018. It says in August, U.S. marshals interviewed several of Mann's relatives and friends, including a relative who pointed authorities to Connecticut and his alleged alias.

U.S marshals and Toronto police launched a new effort to find Mann in 2016 while meeting at a law enforcement conference on capturing fugitives.