A Colorado woman has been accused of plotting to kidnap her child, who had been removed from her custody, in a raid with the help of far-right QAnon conspiracy theorists.
The woman, Cynthia Abcug, 50, was charged last month with conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping, according to police in Parker, in Douglas County.
According to an arrest affidavit, Abcug's daughter, who was still in her custody, told police and child services caseworkers in September that her mother had "gotten into some conspiracy theories and she was 'spiraling down it'" since her sibling was removed from the home. She also said her mother had stopped attending therapy two months earlier.
Abcug's daughter said her mother had become abusive and was planning a "raid" to get her other child back, the affidavit said.
The girl also said that her mother had procured a gun and that an armed man — who she said was "definitely part of this group QAnon" and was sleeping on their couch for "self-defense" — planned to carry out the kidnapping raid with her mother, according to the affidavit.
The girl said that she thought the man, identified only as Ryan, was a former military or police officer and that her mother told her that he was a "sniper," according to the affidavit, which quoted as saying they never left the house without Ryan.
But the only time Abcug left the house was to go to QAnon meetings or to practice shooting at a gun range, her daughter told police. She said that she did not think her mother knew where her sibling was housed but that her mother said people involved with QAnon knew.
The girl said she did not know when her mother planned to carry out the kidnapping, but she said she was concerned that people were going to be injured because her mother said that "they took [her sibling] wrongfully" and that those people are "evil Satan worshippers" and "pedophiles," according to the affidavit.
"She could not understand why her mother did not see how this was a bad thing," the arrest affidavit said.
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"Initially [Abcug] only discussed the QAnon group, however more recently Abcug has escalated into talking more about 'the raid' plan," the affidavit said.
Abcug's daughter told a caseworker that her mother was doing interviews with "the libertarian media ... to raise money for her cause," it said.
Police did not reveal the children's ages.
QAnon is a far-right, internet-born conspiracy theory detailing President Donald Trump's efforts to uncover a pedophilia ring run by Democratic politicians and Hollywood celebrities. There is no evidence for the claims.
When Abcug's daughter was removed from the home, police noticed bracelets that read "QAnon qmap.pub" and "@StormIsUponUs."
Abcug, who was previously suspected of medical child abuse and factitious disorder imposed on another, better known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy, missed a custody hearing Sept. 30 and canceled an interview with police Oct. 1, police said. Then, she disappeared.
She was arrested in Montana on Dec. 30, according to NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver. She has posted bond and is no longer in custody.
