A Northridge man is being held at a maximum security prison in Peru for allegedly kidnapping his 5-year-old daughter despite having been granted sole custody by a Los Angeles court, his attorney said Monday.

Dustin Kent, 32, of Northridge, who has been in custody for about a month, is being preliminarily held at the Miguel Castro Castro prison in Lima, Peru, pending a two-month investigation into an allegation that he committed aggravated kidnapping there, defense attorney Sandro Monteblanco said by phone from Peru. The registered nurse has been sent to prison pending the outcome of the probe because he is a foreigner and thus considered a flight risk, he said.

Kent’s ex-wife, Rose Mary Ann Kent, fled the United States with her daughter in January of last year amid ongoing custody hearings, the attorney said.

“It’s a situation where a dad that had sole custody of his daughter found her (in Peru) after having been abducted for a year, took his daughter with him and in a flash of a moment, the ex-wife says it’s a kidnapping ring and suddenly he’s been put in prison and is looking at the barrel of a 35-year mandatory sentence for aggravated kidnapping,” Monteblanco said.

Read: Northridge man in Peruvian prison for allegedly kidnapping 5-year-old daughter

NORTHRIDGE (CBSLA.com) —  The family of a Northridge man feared for his safety Wednesday night.

In January, Dustin Kent went looking for his 5-year-old daughter Adrianna who lives in Peru with her mother. Soon after locating the little girl, Kent was arrested by Peruvian police on kidnapping charges.

The case has created a media frenzy in Peru, where the 32-year-old father could spend the next several decades behind bars.

On Wednesday night, CBS2’s Peter Daut spoke to Kent’s family.

“It’s ludicrous! it’s beyond unimaginable,” Dustin’s father, Bill, said. “It should not be kidnapping, it’s a custody thing. What parent wouldn’t want to find their own child?”

Kent’s father is desperate for his son’s release. His son and Adrianna’s mother, Rose, married in 2007, but they divorced several years later.

After a judge granted the parents shared custody of Adrianna, Rose fled to her native home in Peru with their daughter. This prompted a judge to grant Kent complete custody.

A full year has passed. Kent still does not have Adrianna in his custody. His father says the little girl was kept in hiding.

 

Only On 2: Northridge Man Behind Bars in Peru For ‘Kidnapping’ His Own Daughter