Mother charged in contentious custody battle, jailed after Hartland Town Court incident | Don’t miss this

A Wheatfield mother at the center of a contentious custody battle was jailed Wednesday afternoon after an appearance in Hartland Town Court.

Katie Lynn Riford, 38, is charged with criminal contempt for “causing a disturbance” with her two children at a court appearance in connection with criminal charges related to her three-year-old disappearance with her two children, according to law enforcement officials.

New York State troopers and officers from the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office were called to Hartland City Hall to assist a Village of Middleport police officer with security at the municipal court. Officers took Riford into custody after an unidentified Hartland city judge found her in contempt for the disturbance.

The judiciary reportedly ordered Riford to be held without bail. Further details of the incident were not immediately available.

Riford disappeared with her two young children in 2019, but was located in New Mexico in March 2022 and extradited back to Niagara County, where she faces both family and criminal court. She is charged with two counts of first-degree criminal interference and one count of violating a Niagara County Family Court order.

Riford was found in Albuquerque with her children Olivia Riford-Diarbakerly, 11, and Mason Riford, 3, under an assumed name. They had been wanted since they were reported missing on February 16, 2019, during a bitter custody battle with the children’s father. {div id=”tncms-region-article_instory_top” class=”tncms-region Hidden-print”}Speaking to a local television reporter at the time of her arrest, Riford said she and her children were victims of “abuse and corruption.” “{/div}”Please just follow and share the story,” Riford told the TV News 4 team. “And help me get justice for my children Olivia and Mason.”

The children’s father, Peter Diarbakerly, who currently has sole custody of them due to family court proceedings, has rejected these claims. Niagara County Sheriff Michael Filicetti also said Riford’s allegations were investigated and found to be “unfounded.”

Prior to her court appearance on Wednesday, Riford had been released from custody on her own recognizance because the custody charges against her do not qualify for bail under New York’s bail reform law.