Texas mother pleads guilty to stealing child in Thousand Palms

A Texas mother pleaded guilty today to charges of taking her daughter from a Thousand Palms elementary school.   

Sara Lee Almodovar, 38, pleaded guilty Friday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to one felony count of child stealing and one misdemeanor count of assault on a school employee, according to court records.

She's set to be sentenced April 15.   

Deputies responded August 27, 2021, to a report of a child abduction in the 31000 block of Robert Road, according to Riverside County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Christopher Ternes. The father, who was the only parent with legal custody of the girl, reported that a woman forcefully removed his child from her elementary school.   

Almodovar, the girl's biological mother, had a short struggle with a staff member from the school during the incident, Ternes said. Almodovar subsequently fled the location with her mother in a rental car, which was later found at the Palm Springs International Airport.

From the airport, the women fled in a late model Chevy truck, according to Ternes. The California Highway Patrol helped to identify the truck's license plate and it was stopped in Parker, Arizona.

The girl was reunited with her father.