Ricketts charged with burglary, child kidnapping

Alleged to have helped plan, separate 1-year-old child from mother
A Crane man continues to sit in the Lawrence County Jail after being arrested on charges of first-degree burglary and child kidnapping. Robert Len Ricketts, 57, was booked into the jail on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
Ricketts is alleged to be part of a group of four people who allegedly seized a one-year-old boy from his mother on March 9 of this year. According to the probable cause statement in the case, Ricketts, along with Tanya Baez, Linda Meyer and another woman—who is not being named because there are no charges pending against her—allegedly entered the trailer where the woman and her son were living; the woman said they entered without her consent.
The victim said the other woman asked to take the child to Freddie Jensen, the child’s father. (The victim said she was leaving Jensen, of Aurora, because he was abusing her and drugs) When the victim said no, the other woman allegedly charged towards her and pinned her to the ground. While she was pinned to the ground, the victim said, she saw Meyer walk around the bed where the boy was.
 At that point, she said, the woman got off of her and ran out of the trailer with Ricketts, Baez and Meyer; the four left in a van.
The woman said she started looking around and saw her son wasn’t in the room; she said she believed Meyer took him from the bed. She said she called Jensen, who allegedly said he sent the woman over to get the boy for him. A witness confirmed the victim’s account. The boy was rescued a few days later.
Charges filed following kidnapping
According to a separate probable cause statement written after charges were filed against Jensen, the victim reported that Jensen had told her to drop the charges against him and “come home,” and that “would make everything okay.” The officer said he spoke with the victim the next day, and she reported that Jensen told her over the phone that “working with the police was not like her,” and because she was pressing charges against him, he was going to “have her committed for a mental evaluation.”
Others charged
Ricketts is not the only person facing charges in the case. Meyer, 49, and Baez, 27, both of Springfield, also face charges of child kidnapping and first-degree burglary; Jensen, 43, faces charges of first-degree burglary and first-degree child endangerment. The other woman was charged in the case, but charges were dropped against her in late October. Baez is currently free on her own recognizance, and there are no records that indicate Meyer or Jensen have yet been arrested in this case. Information attached to an arrest warrant for Jensen states he has been a fugitive for over three years.