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A Utah mother allegedly kidnapped her autistic son’s 11-year-old bully, held him at her home, and threatened to have her husband beat him up until he apologized.
Shannon Tufuga, 40, was charged with kidnapping on Monday, March 23, after allegedly confronting the boy while he was riding his bike in his neighborhood in early September 2025, according to charging documents obtained by KSL.com.
The documents claim Tufuga had been “driving around looking” specifically for the boy. She allegedly forced him into her car without his parents’ knowledge and drove him back to her home in Provo, Utah, where she kept him until he apologized to her son.
Although the boy eventually apologized, Tufuga reportedly continued her threats. The police report states she “threatened to have her husband beat up” the boy and said he “was lucky she did not run over his bike.” She ultimately returned him home.
The alleged kidnapping caused the boy “serious emotional distress” over the following months, and he now experiences “high anxiety and has had to alter his daily routines significantly,” according to the charging documents.
Tufuga faces charges of child kidnapping and aggravated child abuse, both second-degree felonies. The charges were reduced from first-degree felonies after the Utah County Attorney’s Office determined that the reduction “would be in the interests of justice.”
Her son is on the autism spectrum, according to a post on Tufuga’s Facebook page.
