Kidnapping hoaxer Sherri Papini back in court for child visitation battle with ex-husband

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Sherri Papini, California mom behind kidnapping hoax, is confronted with evidence of her hoax: SEE IT

Interview footage released by the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office shows detectives interviewing California mom Sherri Papini about her kidnapping – and ultimately confronting her with the truth.

The California mother who pleaded guilty in 2022 to charges related to faking her own kidnapping six years prior is back in court, this time fighting her ex-husband for visitation rights with their two children. 

“For eight years our family has been followed, stalked, harassed and bullied by the media,” Sherri Papini said in a court filing for a Friday visitation hearing according to KRCR. “I have done my best to stay private to focus on my children and healing from the events that transpired. For many years after my arrest, I was the primary caregiver of our children before serving my time in prison. My children have always been my primary focus.”

Papini wants to be able to see the children again after an eight-year saga that has garnered international press attention and was even the subject of a Hulu documentary. 

Her ex-husband, Keith Papini, is fighting to shelter the pair’s children from their mother. 

Attorneys for both sides pleaded their case in front of Judge Kathryn J. Barton of the Shasta County Superior Court. 

Sherri Papini departs a child custody hearing in Redding, California on Friday, March 21, 2025. Papini previously served 18 months in federal prison for faking her own kidnapping in 2016. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

FAMED CALIFORNIA KIDNAPPING HOAXER SHERRI PAPINI BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO SCHOOLMATE’S 1998 DISAPPEARANCE

In November 2016, Sherri Papini left her Redding, Calif. home for a jog and did not return. She reappeared 22 days later bound, beaten and with a brand on her shoulder 150 miles from her home, claiming that she had been abducted at gunpoint by two Hispanic females weeks prior. 

For years, local and federal law enforcement spent a vast amount of resources trying to solve the alleged crime, only to find that Papini had been staying in Costa Mesa with an ex-boyfriend during the three weeks she was missing. 

A “missing” sign for Sherri Papini put up while authorities searched for her for 22 days in 2016.  (Andrew Seng/The Sacramento Bee via AP, File)

She was finally linked to her ex-boyfriend through DNA evidence, and he came clean with authorities, and charged in March 2022 with 35 counts of mail fraud and one count of lying to a federal officer. 

Her husband, Keith Papini, filed for divorce and custody of their children immediately thereafter. 

Later in the year, she accepted a plea deal and admitted to her guilt on one count of mail fraud and to the charge of lying to a federal officer. 

CALIFORNIA MOM SHERRI PAPINI ENDURING WHAT ‘FEELS LIKE A LIFE SENTENCE,’ LAWYER SAYS AHEAD OF SENTENCING

She was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but released in 2023 after about 11 months behind bars. 

Sherri Papini, center, leaves the federal courthouse after Federal Judge William Shubb sentenced her to 18 months in federal prison, in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. Federal prosecutors had asked that she be sentenced to eight months in prison for faking her own kidnapping in 2016. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

Fox News Digital reached out to the attorneys for both parties. 

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Peter D’Abrosca joined Fox News Digital in 2025 and covers U.S. Crime. 

Previously, he was a public relations executive and a reporter at The Tennessee Star. 

He graduated from Elon University in 2014.

Follow Peter on X at @pmd_reports. Send story tips to peter.dabrosca@fox.com.