Mother held on $500K bond in Walworth County; family says she's not guilty

WALWORTH COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A mother of four is behind bars, being held on a $500,000 bond.

Julie Valadez is facing two felony charges in Walworth County for interfering with child custody. Her family says she's been behind bars for two months now, all because her son was trying to flee his abusive father. Ricardo Valadez, Valadez's ex-husband, was issued a domestic abuse restraining order back in 2018.

"She's not guilty," said Nancy Webster, Valadez’s mother. "I don’t believe that at all."

Webster is demanding justice, saying her daughter has been wrongfully behind bars for two months.

"I believe she has justice on her side," said Webster. "It’s just that it’s just every corner something happens.”

Valadez sought asylum until late May after surviving domestic violence. The criminal complaint claims Valadez helped her son flee to Canada and leave his father, Ricardo Valadez.

"She told me this more than once -- if she tried to leave Ric, he would kill her and then if he didn’t kill her, he’d find somebody that would,” said Webster.

These charges stem from Ricardo Valadez's child being reported missing in January of 2023, later being found in Canada with his mother. Webster says Ricardo abused both her daughter and her daughter's child, who CBS 58 News is not identifying because he is a minor.

"Did {redacted} run away and go to her?" said Webster. "Yes. Did {redacted} push it so that they didn’t have a choice? He was desperate to get away from his father and there was no way he was going to go back to him, and the only place and the only person he had was his mother.”

Danielle Pollack, who works with the National Family Violence Law Center at GW Law, says Valadez has faced five years of court battles. She says Valadez filed for divorce of her abusive husband in Waukesha County in 2018, when the court granted him full custody of all four kids -- a ruling she continues to fight.

"She’s just been struggling in the court system," said Pollack. "For five years now, she hasn’t had her children. She went to the appellate court with that decision, the higher court, and they said the trial court made an error. They should not have given those children to the-- to the dad, you know, who had all these abuse issues, and when she came back to the trial court, they still didn’t give her kids back.”

Valadez remains in jail where she is being held on a half-million-dollar bond, a price the family says is unjust.

"We don’t even have people who are accused of murder and rape held on that high of a bond," said Pollack. "Half a million. I mean what has she done besides, you know, just be available for her kids, and one of her kids wanted to come to her and be with her, and be safe with her."

Pollack says she has an anonymous donor that she is working with that is willing to pay Valadez's bond, so they are hoping she is out soon.

Webster says they are also concerned about Valadez's health, because when she came back from Canada in May, she had a heart attack and is still not doing well.

There is a GoFundMe for Valadez here.