Toddler is returned
to Oxford Circle mom

An Oxford Circle woman was reunited with her 2-year-old son on Saturday, five months after he disappeared while in the custody of his father.
An unidentified person left Dimitrius Whitaker outside the South Philadelphia home of a paternal grandparent one day after police asked the public for help in locating the boy. The toddler did not appear physically injured upon his return.
According to police, the boy’s mother last saw her son on March 25 when she visited the home of his father, James Whitaker, in West Philly and delivered the boy for a routine visitation.
The parents shared joint custody of the boy.
One day later, James Whitaker allegedly showed up at the home of the boy’s mother without the child. He allegedly assaulted the woman, then left.
Police arrested James Whitaker two months later and charged him with assault and related offenses in connection with the attack and an ongoing domestic dispute with his son’s mother, police said.
Whitaker allegedly refused to reveal the whereabouts of the boy to authorities, prompting a Family Court judge to order him jailed for contempt of court.
Whitaker remained in jail as his son was reunited with the boy’s mother. ••