( CNN ) -- Authorities have officially dropped all charges against an American who tried to snatch back his children from his ex-wife in Japan , the Fukuoka prosecutor 's office said Thursday . Charges had been technically `` on hold '' since Christopher Savoie was released from jail in October , though legal experts had said the move essentially meant the charges had already been dropped . The prosecutor 's office said at the time that Savoie was released after he promised not to take his children back to the United States `` in this manner . '' It was not clear whether he had a chance to see his children after his release . Savoie , 38 , a Tennessee native and naturalized Japanese citizen , allegedly abducted his children -- 8-year-old Isaac and 6-year-old Rebecca -- as his ex-wife walked them to school on September 28 in Yanagawa . With the children , Savoie headed for the nearest U.S. consulate in Fukuoka to try to obtain passports for them . Screaming at guards to let him in the compound , Savoie was steps from the front gate but still standing on Japanese soil when he was arrested . Savoie and his first wife , Noriko Savoie , were married for 14 years before a bitter divorce in January . The couple had lived in Japan , but moved to the United States before the divorce . Noriko Savoie received custody of the children and agreed to remain in the United States . Christopher Savoie had visitation rights . On the day that the children were to start school in August , Savoie learned that his ex-wife had fled with them to Japan . Savoie later filed for and received full custody of the children , and police in Franklin , Tennessee , issued an arrest warrant for his ex-wife . But Japan is not a party to the 1980 Hague convention on international child abduction -- though the government has expressed interest in reconsidering -- so the warrant was not recognized by Tokyo . Japanese law follows a tradition of sole-custody divorces . When a couple splits , one parent typically makes a complete and lifelong break from the children . Complicating the matter is the fact that the couple is still considered married in Japan , because they never divorced there , police said . The children also hold Japanese passports , Japanese authorities have said . Foreign parents have had little luck in regaining custody , the U.S. State Department said . Savoie 's current wife , Amy , said in October that her family has been ripped apart . `` Isaac and Rebecca had a very , very happy situation here in Tennessee , '' she said . `` They have people who love them here . '' She said she did not think the parties could work out an agreeable arrangement regarding the children . `` There are two parents who love these children and one of them has just been -- just cast aside . '' CNN 's Kyung Lah contributed to this report .
Christopher Savoie was jailed in Japan after trying to get kids back from Canada . Christopher who was in custody of kids , later fled to Japan . Christopher Savoie was steps away from Japanese consulate when he was arrested . Authorities released Christopher Savoie after he said he would not have kids ` ` in this manner ''