Abducted three years ago by his mother, Sky Gilbert may return soon.

It’s been three years since Roby Gilbert’s 5-year-old son, Sky, was abducted by his mother, and all the media seem to care about is how the dad is coping.

But Gilbert doesn’t want to talk about that. He wants to talk about his boy.

“The ‘Today’ show called recently, and they want to do a story about the poor father’s plight,” he said. “The media always wants to focus on that. No one wants to focus on the children. But this is about Sky. That’s all it is about.”

Believed to be in New Zealand, the youth may be coming home soon, his father said. And when he does, he wants Bainbridge Island to have some understanding about what the child has been through.

“Law enforcement is working on bringing Sky home, but that really is just the beginning,” Gilbert said. “He has been taught to fear his dad, the police, anyone in authority. We don’t know if he knows his own last name. He will pulled from his mom.

“No one ever wins in these situations, but the one who loses most is Sky. Possibly his mom will go to jail. Many kids never get over it.”

In anticipation of his son’s return, Gilbert has arranged for the youth to receive treatment from Seattle therapist Janet Brodsky, one of the nation’s few specialists in the reunification of abducted children.

The family also plans to work with Liss Hart-Haviv, a survivor of abduction who runs the national support group Take Root, based in Kalama, Wash.

“I am setting up a group of law enforcement, educators and therapists to help us,” Gilbert said. “This is not about custody, but about getting this boy back to normal as soon as possible. The good news is that, with care, these kids can get better. But the initial period can be very challenging.

“When he comes home we need to be ready, not just as a family, but as a community,” Gilbert said. “Sky is going to need a lot of understanding.”

In January, authorities came tantalizingly close to capturing Sky and his mother, Juliette Peet, in New Zealand.

Peet’s whereabouts were allegedly reported to authorities by a boyfriend, who learned she was wanted by the FBI on child abduction charges.

Since parental abduction is not a crime in New Zealand, a deal was struck in which Peet turned in her passport and then agreed to turn herself in to immigration officials, Gilbert said.

But instead, she and Sky vanished once again.

It was the first time Roby Gilbert had any inkling of the pair’s whereabouts since Peet took the boy to a birthday party three years ago, and then failed to bring him back.

“Since that time, I have been able to find out how he is doing,” Gilbert said. “I have talked to the boyfriend and others, who said Sky has been in school only sporadically. He can’t read and he can’t count to 100 without help. He’s been living the life of a fugitive, on the run, taught to fear and lie to authorities. He’s been living with several different men in several different households.

“By all accounts he is in good physical condition, which I thank God for.”

Sky Gilbert is one of an estimated 250,000 to 350,000 children who are abducted by a parent each year, according Justice Department statistics cited by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

By law, parental abduction is a crime of domestic violence, while child psychologists consider it a form of child abuse.

Peet told media sources in New Zealand that she left Bainbridge Island with Sky because she was being abused.

Gilbert insists that’s not true, that it’s an excuse that is often employed by women who abduct children, although men and women engage in the crime in equal numbers, he said.

He and his fiancée, Laura Schmidt, have taken it upon themselves to inform others about the crime, and the scars it can leave on children and their families.

Feeling despondent about the second anniversary of Sky’s disappearance, last year Gilbert and Schmidt planned a fund-raising concert which funneled more than $2,000 toward missing children’s organizations.

They’re doing it again this year, with the second “Grange Ol’ Opry” at 7 p.m. April 16, at the Bainbridge Island Grange Hall. The proceeds will go toward Team Hope and the Klaas Foundation, as well the Sky Gilbert Reunification Fund.

It is Gilbert’s hope that the concert will raise awareness about the plight of Sky and other children in his shoes.

“I meet a lot of well-meaning people who say, ‘at least he’s with his mom,’ “ Gilbert said. “But he’s not OK if he can’t read, if he can’t go to school, if doesn’t know his own name. He is a hostage. That is not OK.”

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For Sky

The second annual Grange Ol’ Opry concert will be at 7 p.m. April 16 at the Bainbridge Island Grange Hall. The lineup includes national flat-picking champion Roger Fergusen, the Recliners, the 20 Minute Stringband, Bella, T.L.A., Brian Dever and the Shades, David Gallo, Bobby Gil and the Lost Sky Boys, the VanDykes, Los Churros and Kalama sensation In Good Measure. A silent auction will be held.

Suggested donation is $10 at the door and $25 per family; proceeds to missing children’s organizations and the Sky Gilbert Reunification Fund. For more information on the case, check the website www.skygilbert.com.