Batarti Gabbard, the 55-year-old older brother of former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, was arrested and charged with second-degree custodial interference after he allegedly approached children at a Waikiki hotel pool and tried to coax them back to his room with offers of gum and money.
The July 12 incident has drawn national attention both because of the family connection and because of the disturbing nature of the allegations. Hawaii authorities say Gabbard targeted minors, including a 9-year-old boy, and wrote their names in a notebook before hotel staff and parents intervened.
Under Hawaii law, second-degree custodial interference involves the unauthorized taking or enticing of a minor. If convicted, Batarti Gabbard faces potential jail time. He has not entered a plea on the custodial interference charge, and no conviction has been reached. The case sits at the charging stage, with the facts still alleged and unproven in court.
Breitbart reported that Batarti Gabbard allegedly approached multiple children at the pool area of a Waikiki hotel on July 12, offering them gum and cash if they would follow him to his hotel room. The children were unsupervised or in the company of other guests at the time.
The New York Post reported that Gabbard, whose birth name is Bhakti, also wrote the children's names in a notebook during the encounter. Parents and hotel personnel stepped in before any child left the pool area with him. Police were called, and Gabbard was taken into custody.
The charge of second-degree custodial interference reflects the allegation that he attempted to entice minors away from their guardians. No charges involving physical contact or assault have been filed based on publicly available information. Authorities have not publicly confirmed whether investigators recovered the notebook or whether hotel surveillance footage has been entered into evidence.
CLN previously covered the initial charging of Batarti Gabbard when the case first broke.
The hotel pool incident was not the only brush with law enforcement that week. Fox News reported that Batarti Gabbard was arrested again on July 16 on separate theft charges. He pleaded not guilty to the theft count and is scheduled to appear in court on August 14.
The back-to-back arrests paint a picture of rapid deterioration. His father, Hawaii state Sen. Mike Gabbard, tied both incidents to a sudden mental health crisis, telling reporters that marijuana use triggered the spiral after a decade of stability.
Sen. Mike Gabbard issued a public statement acknowledging his son's situation and asking for understanding. He described a long period of mental health management that collapsed in a matter of days.
"Our oldest son Bhakti has had mental issues in the past but has been doing well for the last 10 years. Several days ago, he started acting erratically, as a result of smoking pot."
The elder Gabbard also confirmed that Batarti is currently receiving psychiatric treatment at a hospital and said the family has urged him to follow the treatment protocol. His second statement carried a more personal tone.
"We love him, and asked him to follow the protocol at the hospital, which he says he will do. We're praying for his speedy recovery, and would appreciate the prayers of others."
Tulsi Gabbard, who served as President Trump's Director of National Intelligence before departing the role, has not made any public comment on her brother's arrest or the charges against him. No spokesperson for the former DNI has issued a statement on her behalf, based on available reporting.
Hawaii has seen a string of high-profile criminal cases draw national attention in recent months, including a triple-homicide suspect captured after an island-wide manhunt.
Sen. Gabbard's public framing places marijuana squarely at the center of his son's breakdown. That framing raises questions defense attorneys may eventually press in court. If Batarti Gabbard's legal team pursues a mental health defense, prosecutors will need to establish whether his alleged conduct was purposeful or the product of a psychiatric episode.
Hawaii's custodial interference statute requires proof that the defendant knowingly or intentionally enticed a minor. A mental health defense could challenge the intent element, though such defenses carry a high burden and rarely succeed without extensive clinical documentation.
Investigators will need to determine several things that remain publicly unresolved: whether any of the children were physically touched, whether hotel security footage corroborates witness accounts, and whether the notebook allegedly used by Gabbard contains information bearing on intent or pattern.
The theft charge from July 16 adds a separate legal track. Prosecutors could seek to consolidate or could proceed on parallel timelines. Gabbard's not-guilty plea on the theft count means that case, too, remains at the pretrial stage. His August 14 court date will be the next public checkpoint.
Cases involving alleged crimes against children consistently draw intense public scrutiny, as seen in the ongoing international attention surrounding the Madeleine McCann investigation and the suspect at its center.
Batarti Gabbard remains in psychiatric care. His father's statements suggest the family views hospitalization, not jail, as the appropriate setting. Whether prosecutors and the court agree will depend on evaluations and the strength of the evidence presented at future hearings.
The custodial interference charge carries the most serious implications. If the case proceeds to trial, it will test whether a mental health crisis triggered by drug use can serve as a viable defense under Hawaii law. Prosecutors have not indicated whether additional charges are under consideration.
Tulsi Gabbard's silence is her prerogative, but it stands in contrast to her father's willingness to speak publicly. For a family with deep roots in Hawaii politics, the situation creates a collision between private crisis and public accountability that neither press statements nor prayers alone can resolve.
Hawaii's criminal justice system has faced growing scrutiny over how it handles cases involving violent and dangerous suspects on the islands, and this case will add another data point to that conversation.
When adults allegedly target children, the public has every right to demand that the legal system treat the matter with the gravity it deserves, regardless of whose brother the defendant happens to be.
