Batarti Gabbard, the 55-year-old brother of former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, was arrested Friday for allegedly trying to lure children to a hotel room in Honolulu, Hawaii using “gum and money,” the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Saturday.
“Batarti Gabbard, aka Bhakti Gabbard, allegedly approached several children, including a boy, age 9, and offered them gum and money to accompany him to his hotel room, according to police,” the outlet reported. “He also asked the children for their names and wrote them in a notebook, police said. The children refused to go with him and the suspect walked away.”
Batarti Gabbard's wife, Kimberly Gabbard, petitioned for a protective order from her husband on Friday due to what she described as “bizarre behavior” he exhibited the day prior, which included “singing loudly” and “disrupting others” in public, the report reads.
“His family members and I have repeatedly encouraged him to seek psychiatric treatment due to his significant deterioration of his mental state and judgment,” Kimberly Gabbard wrote in her petition, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Tulsi Gabbard began her career in politics as a Hawaii state House representative in 2002, climbing the ranks over decades before being appointed as Director of National Intelligence last year, a position she resigned from last month citing her husband’s deteriorating health.
Recent reporting revealed that much of Tulsi Gabbard’s decision making – from what she said to what bill she supported – may have been heavily influenced by Chris Butler, the leader of a group countless ex-members have described as a “cult.”
Batarti Gabbard was charged with second-degree custodial interference, a misdemeanor.