United States Citizen Extradited from South Africa and Federally Indicted After Kidnapping His Children in 2021

Brad D. Schimel, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging a Wisconsin man, Clyde Lewis Springfield (41) with the crime of international parental kidnapping.

According to a criminal complaint previously filed in the case, on or about October 29, 2021, Springfield left the United States with his four children and failed to return them on November 3, 2021, in accordance with their child custody agreement. Travel records showed that the defendant took his children to South Africa and did not return them to the United States on their scheduled return flight. Authorities obtained a federal criminal complaint against Springfield on November 24, 2021.

On March 16, 2022, through combined efforts of the Department of Justice and law enforcement, the children were located, rescued, and returned safely to the United States. Through an international extradition process, Springfield was returned to the United States on November 21, 2025, and arrested.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the West Allis Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the United States Marshals Service (USMS) are investigating this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan J. Thomas is prosecuting the case.

This investigation is a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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For further information contact:

Public Affairs Officer Steve Caballero

(414) 297-1700

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