POCATELLO — Contrary to a growing narrative across the nation, the case involving a local mother and son is not one that involves Idaho’s “abortion trafficking” law, prosecutors say.

Soon after the Idaho State Journal published an article last week about Rachael Swainston, 42, and her son Kadyn Swainston, 18, both of Pocatello, being charged with second-degree kidnapping, media outlets and others across the country portrayed the case as being the first in the state to be charged under the new “abortion trafficking” law, which makes it illegal to either obtain abortion pills for a minor or to help them leave the state for an abortion without their parents’ knowledge and consent.

Kadyn is alleged to have raped a teenage girl earlier this year and both he and his mother are accused of kidnapping for taking the girl to Bend, Oregon, where she received an abortion without her parents’ consent.

Part of the misconceptions surrounding this case evolved after a Substack author in Brooklyn, Jessica Valenti, who publishes a daily abortion rights newsletter, “Abortion, Every Day,” claimed to have an exclusive story about how police used geo-location data to place the teenage girl at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Bend and that prosecutors declined to use the “abortion trafficking” statute specifically but used the exact same language of the law when filing the kidnapping charges.

This is simply not true, according to the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office.

Much of the language prosecutors used in the criminal complaint when filing the kidnapping charges stating that Kadyn and his mother “did without authority of law, lead, take, or entice away (the teenage girl) … with intent to keep or conceal (her) from her custodial parent … by transporting the child out of state for the purpose of an abortion,” exactly matches the state’s kidnapping statute.

Further, Bannock County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Erin Tognetti, who is handling the case, issued a written statement to the Idaho State Journal on Thursday confirming Idaho’s “abortion trafficking” law was in no way correlated to the charges the Swainstons face.

“Kadyn and Rachael Swainston were charged with second-degree kidnapping,” Tognetti said. “That statute requires the taking of a child under the age of sixteen and concealing the child from a parent, guardian or person having lawful care or control of the child. In this case, the child wanted to contact her parents regarding the situation before leaving the state, and the Swainstons prevented her from doing that. The kidnapping charges against the Swainstons result from their coercion of the child and secreting her out of the state without permitting her to communicate with her parents.”

Tognetti continued, “The child’s abortion is not an element of the charged offense, and the Idaho abortion trafficking statute is not implicated in this case.”

Both of the Swainstons were arrested on Oct. 26 after a search warrant was served by police at their Pocatello home. They were both released from the Bannock County Jail on their own recognizance on Oct. 27.

The mother and son are due back in court on Nov. 7 for separate preliminary hearings that will involve prosecutors attempting to prove there is enough evidence against them to elevate their cases from the magistrate to district court level for trial.

In addition to the kidnapping allegations, Rachael was charged with felony meth trafficking as a result of evidence located during the execution of the search warrant and Kadyn was charged with three counts of producing child sexually exploitative material for evidence located on the teenage girl’s cell phone, which she allowed police to access, police and court records say.

The felony meth trafficking charge Rachael faces carries a maximum penalty of up to life in prison if she is convicted. If convicted of the four other felony charges, Rachael faces up to 44 years in prison and a fine of up to $130,000.

If convicted of the rape charge, Kadyn faces up to life in prison. The other four felony charges he faces carry a maximum penalty of up to 115 years in prison and a fine of up to $200,000.