Mom who took daughter cross country to Tahoe accepts plea deal

By Tom Haydon, Star-Ledger

In August 1984, after Nancy Dunsavage heard that a judge in Somerville had awarded temporary custody of their 6-year-old daughter to her ex-husband, the mother fled the state with the child.

Friday, in the same courthouse, Dunsavage pleaded guilty to interfering with custody and was sentenced to 18 days, the length of time she was in custody after she and her now 32-year-old daughter were discovered living in Incline Village last October.

“I feel relief that it’s over,” Dunsavage said after walking out of the courtroom and receiving hugs from her now married daughter, Melissa Olszewski, and a gathering of other relatives.

Although the fourth-degree crime of interfering carries a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine, Dunsavage, as part of a plea agreement, will not go to prison and will not be on probation.

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