One of Elizabeth Smart’s abductors has been arrested for violating the conditions of her release by visiting multiple parks in Utah.
On Thursday, Wanda Barzee, 79, was apprehended by the Salt Lake City Police. The police informed PEOPLE that Barzee is facing charges of “one count of violating Utah’s law restricting registered sex offenders from entering protected areas, including public parks.”
Authorities claim that Barzee visited two parks in Salt Lake City, namely Liberty Park and Sugar House Park. A spokesperson for the Salt Lake City Police, Brent Weisberg, noted that this action is a breach of state regulations due to Barzee’s previous conviction.
As reported earlier by CrimeOnline, Barzee collaborated with her husband, Brian David Mitchell, in the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart from her Salt Lake City residence in 2002. Mitchell abducted Smart, who was 14 at the time, by threatening her with a knife in her bedroom and forcibly taking her away from her home in the dead of night.
Barzee not only helped kidnap Elizabeth Smart, but she also stood by as the girl was sexually assaulted by her husband.
On September 19, 2018, Barzee, then 72, was released from Utah State Prison in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper after serving only 15 years.
Court records reviewed by PEOPLE show that Barzee is no longer in custody for her recent violation and that her release came on judicial orders.
[Feature Photo via Utah Department of Corrections]
