Woman charged with kidnapping niece released

POLSON — A Hot Springs woman charged with kidnapping her niece over the weekend made an initial court appearance Monday and was released on her own recognizance.

Justice of the Peace Joey Jayne rejected a request by Lake County prosecutors to set a $5,000 bond for 34-year-old Jamie T. Finley.

Finley is charged with abducting her 2-year-old niece from a Polson home on Saturday night, prompting a statewide Amber Alert.

Public defender Steve Eschenbacher told the judge that Finley took the girl to protect her.

Several of Finley’s relatives said after the hearing that Finley took the girl to keep her sister from taking the girl out of town with a boyfriend they say abuses both the mother and the girl.