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Parents Reunite With Haitian 'Orphans' Taken by US Group

Haitian prosecutor says Baptists could face conspiracy charges

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 2, 2010 11:42 AM CST
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(Newser) – As 10 Americans wait in a Haitian jail for a court hearing, which a prosecutor says could include criminal conspiracy charges, the children they are accused of trying to spirit out of the country illegally are being reunited with parents. “Many are saying that we have parents,” the CEO of the aid group now in charge of the 33 youngsters said. “The parents now are coming to the village to reclaim their children."

The kids “weren't well dressed, they were dehydrated,” continued the CEO, whose group is based in the US, in a Today Show interview. “They needed medical assistance.” Of the Baptist group awaiting charges, she said she doesn’t “know all the facts, but if they were good intentions, they’ve certainly gone awry.” The Haitian prosecutor tells AFP that in addition to conspiracy, the 10 Americans could face kidnapping and trafficking charges.

Two Haitian police officers sit next to Charisa Coulter, 24, of Boise, Idaho, one of the 10 Americans who were arrested while trying to bus children out of Haiti.
Two Haitian police officers sit next to Charisa Coulter, 24, of Boise, Idaho, one of the 10 Americans who were arrested while trying to bus children out of Haiti.   (AP Photo)
An infant who was part of the group of children that US Baptists were trying to take out of Haiti, is carried by a girl who lives at an orphanage run by SOS Children's Villages in Port-au-Prince.
An infant who was part of the group of children that US Baptists were trying to take out of Haiti, is carried by a girl who lives at an orphanage run by SOS Children's Villages in Port-au-Prince.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 15 comments
Janniel
Feb 3, 2010 2:59 AM CST
This is so disturbing, on so many levels. One of the things that really stuns me is the thought that these Christians seemed to have no concern for the agony of the parents left behind, not able to find their children, and believing them dead, or worse, buried beneath rubble and dying alone and in pain.
blues_junky
Feb 3, 2010 2:32 AM CST
I just heard it reported on CNN that of the 33 kids involved, 14 had one or more parents. Those parents, however, had willingly given them up. It didn't say if they had given them to an orphanage, or directly to this group, but it doesn't look like the parents were merely seperated from them due to the quake. Like I've been saying, it can be argued that this group was reckless, but an instant conviction was hardly warranted. And what really pisses me off, is the "Trafficking" headlines. That implies a whole world of seedy shit that there was absolutely no evidence of.
Big_D
Feb 2, 2010 10:18 AM CST
This story does not surprise me. Child trafficking has become a booming business. Even if their intentions were only to get these children to homes, assuredly they would be homes with those having money to "donate" to their cause. This also opens up a larger door here. Would the children be better off far from their land and from their own people? No one should really decide that but the people who know the crisis and are working with the government there and the people who are looking for lost kin. The best thing for those children now are for Haitians to rebuild the country and provide for the immediate needs of their people. Then the orphans can truly be determined after many children there reunite with parents or perhaps other relations. We would have a fit if a natural disaster occurred and American children were being smuggled out of the country by some religious do-gooders. BigD's wife

 
kidnapping • conspiracy • Baptist • child trafficking • Haiti earthquake • New Life Children's Refuge • Americans detained Haiti • Haitian orphans

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