Human Predators Stalk Haiti's Vulnerable Kids

[pinkpuddytat]

I am suspicious of the statements as well, but possibly for different reasons. First of all, the Daily Caller is the only 'news' outlet reporting this.

The headline and early part of the story are very misleading, claiming this is the "US government" position, when even per the detail in the story, it's only a claim made by one unauthorized State Department official.

 

[i.b.nora]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/11/2816408.htm

Judge orders release of Haiti missionaries

Posted 15 minutes ago
Released: the missionaries had been arrested with a busload of 33 children

Released: the missionaries had been arrested with a busload of 33 children (Reuters: Joseph Guyler Delva)

* Related Story: Haiti missionaries charged with child kidnap
* Related Story: Uncertain wait for Haiti kidnapping accused

A Haitian judge has decided to release 10 US missionaries accused of kidnapping 33 children and trying to spirit them out of the earthquake-stricken country.

The source said the missionaries, who have been in jail since they were stopped at Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic on January 29, could be released as early as Thursday.

"The order will be to release them," said the source, who asked not to be named.

"One thing an investigating judge seeks in a criminal investigation is criminal intentions on the part of the people involved and there is nothing that shows that criminal intention on the part of the Americans."

The decision has not yet been made public.

- Reuters/AFP

 

[pinkpuddytat]

Updated MSNBC version says NBC News reports no final decision has been made yet, but might be made as early as tomorrow. Sounds like this is still up in the air, and could easily turn out to be 8-9 of them getting released, rather than all 10.

I don't want Laura Silsby back in my country!

 

[i.b.nora]

I don't want Laura Silsby back in my country!

Well, at least she probably won't be going to your state. Unless your state has the closest FEDERAL PRISON.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

Hard to say where she'll end up. There are clearly Idaho state charges forthcoming, in connection with her unpaid wage claims, and fraudulent "charity" fundraising. The fundraising should also bring federal charges, because she was apparently representing that NLCR had federal 501c3 status when in fact it didn't. Not clear if there are really any US charges that could be brought against her for her activities in Haiti and the DR -- I can't think what she would be charged with, but maybe somebody in the Justice Department can get creative and come up with something.

 

[i.b.nora]

So far, all the reports are all coming from that one Reuters report with the one judicial source.
Where is CNN?

 

[Texas Mist]

So far, all the reports are all coming from that one Reuters report with the one judicial source.
Where is CNN?

I'm watching Prime News on HLN...haven't heard anything yet...unless I missed it because I haven't seen the whole show....they usually repeat the high-profile cases tho.

 

[i.b.nora]

Only report I have see that isn't Reuters. Nothing about them definitely being released tomorrow.

Attorney: Judge to decide on jailed missionaries

"Associated Press - February 10, 2010 8:24 PM ET

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - "An attorney representing 1 of 10 U.S. missionaries jailed for trying to a busload of children out of Haiti says a judge's decision is imminent on whether they will go to trial.

Attorney Gary Lassade tells The Associated Press that he expects Judge Bernard Saint-Vil to issue his recommendation Thursday to the prosecutor in the case.

The prosecutor has the right to appeal if the judge recommends charges be dropped, but the judge has the final say."

more . . .

 

[i.b.nora]

I have found McClatchy to usually be accurate in their reporting:

Evangelicals ask Obama to help missionaries jailed in Haiti

By Trenton Daniel and Lesley Clark | McClatchy Newspapers

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — "The 10 Idaho missionaries facing kidnapping charges in Haiti testified as a group in a closed-door hearing Wednesday before an examining judge but their anticipated release did not happen.

The case will now be transferred to a local prosecutor, who has five days from Thursday to review the dossier and report his findings to Examining Judge Bernard Saint Vil and decide if the defendants should be released or jailed, or if attorneys need to call more witnesses.

Once the judge receives the prosecutors’ dossier, Saint Vil has up to two months to make a final decision on whether the defendants should be released."

There is more here...

 

[Missizzy]

I'm torn between certainly not wanting her to come back to the states and not wishing her on the Haitians. They have enough problems right now.

Isn't there some sort of "God-appointed" position cleaning latrines in a US juvenile holding center. She wants to help children, right?

 

[pinkpuddytat]

Put her in leg chains and make her clean latrines in a Haitian orphanage (which in most cases probably means carting open buckets of waste to a nearby gully and dumping them) -- no clean, no food. She wanted to help *Haitian* children, right?

 

[Melly53]

If Silsby is released then I sincerely hope that she is prohibited from EVER being allowed to have anything to do with orphans, or running an orphanage of any type in ANY County of the world. Her supposed business license in Idaho needs to be revoked and her application for a 501c, non-profit organization should be permanently denied. This woman clearly has no business taking money from ANYONE!! JMO

 

[truckbomb]

Baghdad Bob is now a spokesman for the Americans in Haiti. He is standing before the journalists saying:

"The order will be to release them. There is nothing that shows that criminal intention on the part of the Americans.

After they are released in the morning they will be honored by a parade to the airport. The Americans have given the judge and prosecutor a real lesson. Both will be beaten by old shoes and boiled in the fat of their own goats."

Looks like Reuters left out most of Bagdad Bob's pronouncement.

 

[Annie Mouse]

From the McClatchy article:

"One of the missionaries’ attorneys conceded in the courthouse parking lot -- filled with tents housing those made homeless by the Jan. 12 quake -- that his clients hadn’t submitted paperwork to Haitian authorities to adopt the children but that the Jan. 12 catastrophe made a case for their rescue.

"There was no way to do this in a legal way," attorney Jean Rene Tessier said. "The border was open to accepting people and there was no institution that could do anything about this case at this time."

Despite that claim, Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said last month that the government worried that children could be picked up on the streets of Port-au-Prince by nongovernmental organizations as well as by others who may be involved in trafficking into prostitution or slavery.

Bellerive said Haiti would not release children for adoption without his personal approval, and ordered nongovernmental agencies working in Port-au-Prince to stop collecting children found on the street."

Those short paragraphs pretty much outline the government's position and the position of the 8 naive volunteers. Silsby and her "nanny" fall into another category. Those two have more culpability in the case.

Personally, I think the Haitian government is doing the right thing with these unruly, narcissistic Baptists. By keeping them prisoner and putting them through a lengthy and miserable legal process, the Haitians are making an example of the volunteers which should serve as a warning for other self-important "do gooders". Eventually the 8 dupes need to be released, because their real crimes are stupidity and vanity, not child trafficking.

The nanny and Laura Silsby is another story. Silsby probably does have BPD or Anti-social personality disorder. Silsby's a classic con artist, and her nanny cannot seriously contend that she knew as little as the other 8 volunteers. I think Silsby and the nanny should be put through the wringer a bit longer and harder than the naive but narcissistic 8.

Criminals are the same the world over. The Haitian legal system recognizes the Laura
Silsbys of the world. If they release her, it will be for political expediency, not because they are decieved.

 

[truckbomb]

If you watch today's CNN video of wednesday's hearing conclusion at

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/11/haiti.arrests/index.html?hpt=T2

You will not get the impression that these morons will be released to go home any time soon. It looks like Baghdad Bob (or is it Babtist Bob?) got it wrong again. Strike one for Reuters.

The best the 8 volunteeers can take away from this is a "request" for bail was been made by the defense. It was turned down before.

The worst they can take away is the judge stating that he "will do his best to conclude his investigation within the three months." Does that sound like anyone is going home?

Frankly, even bail is not so good. Yes, they would be out of the "spartan" jail but where to without a passport? How long a stay in the ravaged country awaiting trial? Fuggedaboudit!

No, things are not looking good for the Clucks., especially Nos. 1 and 2.

 

[i.b.nora]

Haiti judge: Detained Americans should be released

The Associated Press
Thursday, February 11, 2010; 11:21 AM

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- The Haitian judge deciding whether 10 U.S. missionaries should face trial on charges of trying to take a busload of children out of the country says he will recommend that they be released.

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil finished questioning the Americans on Wednesday. He now must send his recommendation to the prosecutor, who may agree or object.

But the judge has the final authority to decide whether they stay in custody or go free.

Saint-Vil told The Associated Press he will recommend that all 10 be released.

He would not elaborate, and it was not clear whether that recommendation means the charges may be dropped.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. See Link above

 

[truckbomb]

Impossible to get to the dossier today. Will deal with it Monday. This from the Haiti Attorney General.

In other words, the case is being kicked down the road. The Idaho Baptist Church news conference Thruday afternoon was called off.

No guarantee Monday will be any better for our Gang of Ten. Maybe they will get that provisional release then But I don't see them leaving the country. Who knows, maybe they will get lucky.

Have a nice weekend down there folks.

 

[i.b.nora]

I haven't seen or heard the announcement yet, but I do know that if it doesn't come today it will have to wait until Monday since tomorrow has been declared a National Day of Mourning in Haiti.
Also, Carnaval has been cancelled for perhaps only the second time in Haitian history. I think it was supposed to start on Sunday. So, in some ways that could benefit the Baptists, otherwise they might need to wait until a week or so from now. I mean, the country does have other stuff to do.

 

[i.b.nora]

Haitian judge poised to release US missionaries
By FRANK BAJAK
The Associated Press

""After listening to the families, I see the possibility that they can all be released," Saint-Vil told The Associated Press. "I am recommending that all 10 Americans be released."

Saint-Vil said he delivered his recommendation to prosecutor Josephe Mannes Louis on Thursday. Louis said he would respond with his own recommendation next week. Haitian government offices are closed Friday for a national day of mourning."

 

[truckbomb]

"I can see the possibility..." "I am recommending..."

These vague expressions, full of doubt and uncertainty, cannot be comforting words from the judge almost requiring thwe subjunctive "condition contrary to fact." They suggest further processing = further delay. I wouldn't be scheduling any press conferences out there in Idaho any time in the near future. This is one of the best Slow Roll I have ever seen.