2d woman charged in ‘Jihad Jane’ terror case

The two are accused of plotting online to attend a terrorist training camp.

Jamie Paulin-Ramirez flew from Ireland yesterday to Philadelphia, where she was arrested by agents with the joint terrorism task force. Her 6-year-old son flew with her and was placed in the custody of child protective service workers.

A US official said Paulin-Ramirez is pregnant. The official was not authorized to discuss that detail and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Last month, authorities in Ireland detained Paulin-Ramirez, originally from Colorado, and six others as they investigated an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist whose drawing had offended many Muslims.

Those seven suspects in Ireland were linked to Colleen LaRose, who had traveled to Europe but was arrested last fall when she returned to the United States.

The new indictment charges that LaRose and Paulin-Ramirez, 31, separately traveled to Europe to support violent jihad, or Muslim holy war. The court papers also say that once LaRose was in Europe, she invited Paulin-Ramirez to join her to attend a “training camp.’’

Paulin-Ramirez, prosecutors charge, accepted the invitation and asked to bring her 6-year-old son with her. She and the boy traveled to Europe last September and on the day of her arrival, she married a co-conspirator whom she knew only from online discussions, authorities said.

Last August, the pair allegedly had a computer conversation in which LaRose said “when our brothers defend our faith [and] their homes, they are terrorists . . . fine, then I am a terrorist and proud to be this.’’

According to the indictment, Paulin-Ramirez replied, “that’s right . . . if that’s how they call it then so be it I am what I am.’’

Prosecutors alleged that LaRose called herself “Jihad Jane’’ in Internet conversations, but she denied that when questioned by the FBI. She has pleaded not guilty.

LaRose apparently spent long hours online in recent years while caring for her boyfriend’s elderly father in a small eastern Pennsylvania town. The congressman who represents the district said she had cooperated with authorities after her arrest last fall, which went unannounced until the seven suspects in Ireland were detained in March.

Paulin-Ramirez’s mother, Christine Mott, said she had heard that her daughter returned to the United States yesterday.

“She’s in some serious, serious trouble,’’ Mott said tearfully in a phone call from her home in Leadville, Colo.

Mott said she didn’t know whether her daughter was pregnant. She said she was concerned about her grandson.

Mott said she was also worried about her daughter.

“My daughter’s not a monster,’’ she said. “These people came into my home through the Internet and they seduced a very lonely, lonely person. If that can happen to me, it can happen to anybody.’’