The children, who are all boys with the exception of 1-year-old Nefertiti Payne, are Nephra Payne, 11; Nephra Ceo Payne, 10; Nephra John Payne, 9; Nephra Shalee Payne, 6; Nephra Rahsul Payne, 6; Nephra Umeek Payne, 5; and Nephra Yahmen Payne, 4. They were taken by their desperate parents in September 2011 during a supervised visit at a foster care center in Queens, N.Y.
“We’re going to try and do our best to get them back,” Payne said, before leaving with Nadal. The two will have to get a judge’s permission before they can see their kids again.
The couple pleaded guilty to a custodial interference charge last month after Queens prosecutors agreed to drop the more serious charge of kidnapping. The parents said they took their kids because they were convinced the children were being abused in foster care.
City officials had removed the children from their parents’ custody in 2009 because of accusations that Payne had abused his sons, and that Nadal had neglected them. The children were divided among two foster homes, and then a third, when Nefertiti was born last September.
