A Fantastic Vacation, Then Terrible Twist

McCarty said Liam's fifth year was one of the best periods of their life together. He has video of the boy's fifth birthday. For McCarty, the images are both precious and painful. McCarty began making the home videos in 2003. He did so in part to preserve the moments for Liam.

"This'll be good to have ... a valuable aid, documentation of my time with him," McCarty said."This will prove to him, when he gets older, what our relationship was like," said McCarty.

But it was also a matter of self-defense.

"This'll be good to have ... a valuable aid, documentation of my time with him," McCarty said.

Michael needed documentation of his good relationship because of circumstances that arose in the summer of 2006. It was just after a vacation McCarty had taken with Liam to upstate New York and the New Jersey shore.

"We just had a perfectly enjoyable, fantastic vacation," said McCarty. "It was the first time that I had spent that much consistent

time with him. ... It was great."

But then, about a week after their return, he says he had a horrible surprise.

"I get served with an order, or a summons, to appear in court," said McCarty. "We go to court, and they tell me in court that she

has accused me of sexually molesting my son.

your own child. I don't think I slept for weeks. I mean, it was absolutely horrible."

"He was in tears," said Berg, the friend, "and I [was] just saying 'No. No, it can't be -- I can't believe this is happening to you.'"

Manuela Antonelli alleged that Liam had returned from the vacation a changed boy, behaving strangely at home and

telling detailed stories of abuse from the trip. Following standard procedure, the New York County Family Court suspended

Michael McCarty's visitation rights and ordered that the allegations be investigated.

"We had three reports submitted to the court," said Dr. Bernice Schaul, a clinical psychologist who has done custody evaluations

for the New York Family Court for decades, and who has worked with McCarty on his case. "[They found] that the allegations were

baseless. And there was no reason to assume there was any kind of abuse. ... There was no issue. There was no issue at all."

McCarty said he knew what had happened.

"I tried to talk to [Antonelli]," said McCarty, "and she wanted more money. We had a settlement, and she wanted more money."

The abuse investigations were an ordeal for Michael, and also for Liam.

"They were doing interviews, the way that they should in these cases, of course," said McCarty. "He was also subjected to all the physical examinations that go along with this."

But at least the court had barred Antonelli from taking Liam out of the country, and restored McCarty's visitations. So now Michael made a dramatic -- and fateful -- decision. He moved for full custody of Liam.

'I Was Shocked That His Mother Did That'

"[The evidence was] that there were serious problems that the mother had that would make it difficult for her to provide a healthy environment for this child," said Schaul.

While the court pondered the custody question, Liam was in school in Greenwich Village. McCarty was on his way to the school to pick up Liam when he got the news: Antonelli had taken Liam to Italy.

"It was like everything exploded at once. I could not believe that that had happened," said McCarty. "I was shocked that his mother did that. ... I mean, this whole thing has been like the Twilight Zone."

Antonelli has never returned to the United States.

"When he first was kidnapped, my whole apartment was filled with his toys and his things," said McCarty. "For the longest time, I couldn't move them. I just couldn't even touch them."

McCarty thought he'd have Liam back quickly. After all, by taking him in violation of a court order, Antonelli was committing a crime.

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