(Remsen, Iowa) – A western Iowa man charged with kidnapping his son during recess has pleaded guilty in district court. KTIV-TV in Sioux City reports, that on Tuesday, Sept. 3rd, 35-year-old Brandon Duong, of Jefferson, Iowa, entered a guilty plea to one of two charges filed against him in Iowa district court. Duong submitted a guilty plea to one count of violating a custodial order which is a class D felony. His second-degree kidnapping charge was dropped. Duong was arrested January 30th and booked into the Greene County Jail, after an AMBER Alert led to a high-speed chase and a three-hour standoff near Remsen, Iowa.

Duong was accused of kidnapping his 7-year-old son, Bryson Duong, from Greene County Elementary School. A court order filed in December 2023, had restricted Duong from having custody of his son. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office says authorities learned Duong was possibly armed with a firearm during the January pursuit. Duong allegedly had his son over his shoulder while law enforcement had their guns drawn. After the three-hour standoff, Duong surrendered, and his son, uninjured, was taken into the custody of the Department of Human Services.

Brandon Duong

In February of 2024, Duong pleaded not guilty to second-degree kidnapping and in March of that year, a judge ruled that Duong was competent to stand trial, after a psychiatric evaluation. A sentencing hearing for Brandon Duong has yet to be set.