A WOMAN accused of abducting her infant daughter from South Carolina 20 years ago has pleaded not guilty in her first appearance in a US federal court after being extradited from Australia.

Dorothy Lee Barnett, 54, entered the plea before US Magistrate Bristow Marchant. Her lawyer requested a bond hearing be delayed.

Russell W Mace III said he needs time to contact Barnett’s family and friends from outside the state and country to come and vouch for his client.

Barnett was returned to Charleston last week, and authorities say she faces one count of international parental kidnapping and two counts of falsifying US passport applications.

Last November Barnett, formerly of Isle of Palms, South Carolina, was located on the Sunshine Coast, where she had been living under several aliases.

Authorities say Barnett did not have custody of her then 10-month-old daughter, Savannah Catherine Todd, when she left South Carolina in 1994.

She had filed for divorce from her husband the previous year.

Barnett’s daughter has reportedly changed her name to Savannah Lee Barnett and is still living in Queensland.