Hubby files for divorce, custody from Bucks woman in kidnap hoax

This time, Bonnie Sweeten was on the receiving end of an unpleasant surprise.

The Feasterville woman - who stunned the nation in May by faking her own kidnapping - found out yesterday that her husband had quietly filed for divorce the day before, said her attorney, Louis R. Busico.

"She was completely taken off guard," Busico said.

"Never in a million years did she expect him to file for a divorce, let alone to file for divorce and not tell her."

According to Bucks County court records, Richard "Larry" Sweeten filed for divorce from Bonnie, and for custody of the couple's 11-month-old daughter, Faith, Wednesday afternoon.

Richard Sweeten's attorney, Jeffrey Baxter, could not be reached for comment.

Bonnie, 38, has two other daughters from a previous marriage.

"She had spent that morning mowing lawns for his landscaping business," Busico said.

"They spent the night together in their marital home. He chose not to tell her that he had filed for divorce."

Sweeten already had plenty of problems on her plate.

Sweeten is scheduled to go to trial next month in Bucks County, where authorities charged her with making false reports to police and identity theft after she called 9-1-1 on May 26 and told an operator that she and her 9-year-old daughter, Julia Rakoczy, had been abducted from their SUV by two black men in Upper Southampton Township.

The harrowing tale - punctuated by Sweeten's tearful pleas for help, which she said were made from the trunk of the kidnappers' car - generated national headlines.

Empathy turned to fury when law-enforcement officials found mother and daughter hiding out at a posh resort in Disney World the following day.

Sweeten has since been undergoing therapy and trying to regain a sense of normalcy to her life, while she's been free on bail, her attorney said.

"And now this," Busico added. "The ultimate kick when a person's down." *