Woman Falsely Accused Egyptian Of Attempt To Kidnap Her 5-Year Old Daughter, Arrested

Representational image of an open handcuff. John Moore/Getty Images

A West Virginia woman was accused of falsely stating that an Egyptian man attempted to abduct her daughter from a shopping mall. She will appear in court following the accusation.

24-year-old Santana Renee Adams will stand trial in court on Sept.r 26. If convicted, she will face up to six months in jail, The Huntington Herald-Dispatch reported.

While reporting the incident on Sept. 23, the mother told police that she was shopping in Old Navy and that a man caught her child by her hair in a bid to take her away. Adams added that she pointed a gun at him to stop him.

She made the abduction charges against a man, 54-year-old Mohamed Zayan. Her claims prompted the arrest of Zayan who refuted the claims.The court later dropped the charges made against Zayan, who works as an engineer.

He said he could not even remember how the mom and the child looked like. He also added that a gun was never pointed at him.

Police clarified that Zayan may have simply wanted to show affection to the girl by patting her on the head and smiling. Abduction charges against Zayan were later dropped, WDTV reported.

People were initially extolling the bravery of Adams as she claimed she used a gun to fight off the predator who attempted to kidnap her 5-year-old daughter on April 1. But the real story came to the fore when no one in the mall recalling witnessing such an incident. Adams then began waffling amid questioning, which raised eyebrows. To neutralize her false claims, she said it was "cultural misunderstanding."

Zayan's attorney said there was never any evidence against him to support the claims made. "Our office has thoroughly and diligently investigated this case and there is absolutely no evidence to support any charges or wrongdoing against Mr. Zayan. We have consulted with local law enforcement officials and we are convinced there is no evidence to support these charges at all," he told WDTV.

Adams is booked under a common bond condition in which she will only have to pay 10 percent of the total bond amount, $20,000, to get out of the jail.