Human Predators Stalk Haiti's Vulnerable Kids

[pinkpuddytat]

I'm glad to hear these folks will be sweating in a Haitian jail a while longer. It's good for them. I do wish they'd separate Silsby and Coulter from the rest of the women, though. I'm a wee bit concerned about Silsby's potential for getting violent -- if she hasn't found out already about the note the 8 slipped out, she's likely to soon. That woman is seriously unstable and really has her back to the wall -- a dangerous combination. Getting out of the Haitian jail isn't going to do her much good, because for her, the gig is up back in Idaho too. Her company will be forced into the bankruptcy it should have been in 8 or 9 years ago, her ex-husband will be marching into court to tighten up his custody of the children and put further limits on her visitation rights, facing her children will be terrifying and humiliating, the feds (and many of the people who donated to her orphanage scam) will be going after her for the phony claim re tax-exempt status, nobody is going to hire her for *any* kind of job and she's not even likely to be eligible for unemployment since she was employed by her own company and engaged in so much criminal financial fraud with it. She'll end up with so many fines and civil judgements that she'll never be allowed to keep any money beyond bare survival amounts, even if she eventually finds work or inherits some money. She has absolutely nothing to look forward to and she really could snap, if the grim reality of her situation is finally breaking through her psychological cocoon of fantasies and scams and always being in charge.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

The Haitian legal system recognizes the Laura
Silsbys of the world.

Indeed, and it's really pretty pathetic that OUR legal system didn't recognize and deal with her, long before she ever lured in these dupes and set off for the DR and Haiti. She's been running a financial scam through her business for at least 8-9 years, and with the very long list of former employees and creditors who've filed claims and suits against her, somebody in our judicial system should have been able to put the pieces of the puzzle together quite a long time ago.

 

[Missizzy]

Pink--That's an excellent point. I had not considered that. Our judicial system, by failing to act in a timely manner, is complicit in these current actions. You are right on.

I'm still waiting to hear just what those return tickets had stamped on them for the return date. Did any of them intend to return?

 

[pinkpuddytat]

I'm still waiting to hear just what those return tickets had stamped on them for the return date. Did any of them intend to return?

I recall at least one interview with a friend or family member of one of the group where the person being interviewed said the "missionary" had expected to be gone anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month. And Silsby's website pleas for volunteers were asking for people to come for stints of as little as two weeks, to care for the children.

The insanity of this "plan" is just mind-boggling. Can you imagine trying to run an "orphanage" for 100 recently traumatized children with a rotating staff of untrained, unscreened volunteers who are popping in for stints as short as two weeks? And that's IF anywhere near a sufficient number of people actually signed up for this trip into the Twilight Zone, and IF donors kept shelling out enough to pay for both the "orphanage" and all the money Silsby was skimming off for herself. If not, then who knows what would have happened to the children, if Silsby and her crazy crew had managed to get them out of Haiti. There would have been a bunch of Haitian children stranded in the DR with no passports or other identity documents and no legal record of how they got there or who was legally responsible for them (and one of the children on the busload of 33 was a mere TWO MONTHS OLD!).

 

[Annie Mouse]

... And Silsby's website pleas for volunteers were asking for people to come for stints of as little as two weeks, to care for the children.

The insanity of this "plan" is just mind-boggling. Can you imagine trying to run an "orphanage" for 100 recently traumatized children with a rotating staff of untrained, unscreened volunteers who are popping in for stints as short as two weeks?...QUOTE]

Thanks for pointing this out. I thought the same thing, when I was trying to figure out if Silsby was BPD or ASPD. What kind of person would think that this plan would support the psychological health of these 100 "orphans"? Which kind of crazy is Laura Silsby? It's hard to say, but it's clear she's pretty nuts.

Her 8 dupes are a few bricks shy of a full load too, but they seem like typical cult followers to me. Ordinarily, they're probably pretty high functioning. They just got sucked into the "reality distortion zone" of a skilled con artist.

When will churches figure out what a con artist looks like, and stop placing them in charge of ministries? This gets old after a while. As a Christian myself, I find it highly offensive. The SBC needs to do more to protect rank and file Baptists from predatory leadership.

 

[weedemout]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/world/americas/12haiti.html?hp

The police in El Salvador have begun an investigation into whether a man suspected of leading a trafficking ring involving Central American and Caribbean women and girls is also a legal adviser to many of the Americans charged with trying to take 33 children out of Haiti without permission.

When the judge presiding over the Haitian case learned on Thursday of the investigation in El Salvador, he said he would begin his own inquiry of the adviser, a Dominican man who was in the judge’s chambers days before.

The inquiries are the latest twist in a politically charged case that is unfolding in the middle of an earthquake disaster zone. A lawyer for the group has already been dismissed after being accused of trying to offer bribes to get the 10 Americans out of jail.

The adviser, Jorge Puello, said in a telephone interview on Thursday that he had not engaged in any illegal activity in El Salvador and that he had never been in the country. He called it a case of mistaken identity. “I don’t have anything to do with El Salvador,” he said, suggesting that his name was as common in Latin America as John Smith is in the United States.

“There’s a Colombian drug dealer who was arrested with 25 IDs, and one of them had my name,” he said, not elaborating.

 

[i.b.nora]

Wow!!! Thanks for posting that article, Weedemout.

If true, its a bombshell. And, I am willing to bet its true. But, how would the Baptists have latched onto him?

 

[Missizzy]

Annie Mouse--First, welcome. Glad to have you. If you've read through the entire post, you'll note that I've been screaming bipolar from early on. I think I even offered to eat a hat if she's not and I seriously doubt I'll be forced to swallow one. This woman is classic (possibly rapid cycling).

One of the things that I haven't mentioned as related to bipolar is the "pasted on/ beatific" smile. That is a mask that those with BPD learn to use when they are manic or cycling so as not to bring too much attention to their craziness.

Being that we know that BPD mania can cause hyper-sexuality, I've privately wondered if she hasn't preyed on Coulter. I realize that Coulter is a legal adult but Silsby has long held an authoritative role in her life. I would feel much more comfortable if those two were separated. Just the fact that Coulter willingly compromised her own health for Silsby tells me that this is not a healthy relationship.

 

[Missizzy]

That's a disturbing development. This case grows bigger and stranger by the minute. I've been so set on Silsby never being able to benefit financially (movie or book deals) from this debacle but I've changed my mind somewhat. I hope the script-writers in Hollywood, especially some fine documentarians, are taking notes. I'd love to see this made into a film to highlight the underworld of human-trafficking much like the film El Norte so poignantly told the Latin American emigrant experience. My hope is that Silsby will be compelled to tell her ENTIRE story and that the Haitian children she purportedly wished to "rescue" can benefit financially.

What this woman has done reminds me of the crime of looting following a disaster--grab what you can profit from and run. I've always been struck by the fact that so many looters grab TVs and cameras, instead of food, water, and diapers. There's a vast difference IMO.

 

[Missizzy]

i.b.nora--I, too, wonder how they would have found the trafficker. But how have they linked up with so many seemingly unconnected people? Sainvil in Georgia, the youth pastor in Kansas, several contacts within Haiti? It doesn't make sense because we don't know the whole story yet. We will, hopefully.

The only thing that jumps out at me right away is the fact that Thompson and his son have reportedly been involved in multiple missions in the past. Maybe this is someone he's come across and stayed in contact with. Thompson's actions--leaving his flock with a full schedule planned--has always struck me as far than odd.

 

[Missizzy]

Paul and Silas Thompson have been to Santiago, Chile in Fall 2003 for a past mission. Silas would have been a child. Scroll down to the last entry:

http://www.esbctwinfalls.com/templates/System/details.asp?id=24453&PID=112691

 

[Missizzy]

Not sure at all that this is a factor but the Ukraine has a well known documented history of child trafficking and . If you check out the Eastside Baptist Church's mission page linked above, you'll note that the church has an involvement with an orphanage mission there.

I read back over the 2009 newsletters for Eastside and there was frequent mention about a couple preparing to go to the Ukraine. They were collecting funds, clothing, medicine, and toys. Not a word about Haiti but a lot about the Ukraine. FWIW, also not a mention of El Salvador.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

I thought the same thing, when I was trying to figure out if Silsby was BPD or ASPD. What kind of person would think that this plan would support the psychological health of these 100 "orphans"? Which kind of crazy is Laura Silsby? It's hard to say, but it's clear she's pretty nuts.

I'm not at all sure Silsby is "crazy". She's been getting away with financially lucrative scams for about a decade now. I think she's greedy and unethical, more than any brand of crazy. It was finally catching up with her, and in desperation she tried something without thinking it through. As I pointed out earlier on this thread, she'd been living off donations for the "planned" orphanage/adoption mall she'd been touting for at least 6 months or so. Then the earthquake came along, and all of sudden her donation flow was going to grind to a screeching halt, because anyone in these churches (and elsewhere) who was inclined to aim their donations at Haiti/Haitian children was going to suddenly redirect their donations to groups that were helping Haiti NOW, not to a group planning to build some adoption center off in the vaguely defined future. Silsby had to change her "plans" on very short notice to keep the donations coming, hence the wildly un-thought out "plan" which landed her and the volunteers in this pickle.

Her 8 dupes are a few bricks shy of a full load too, but they seem like typical cult followers to me.

They do seem a bit slow on the uptake, but they were presumably relying on the fact that information about this "mission" was posted on the websites of two very mainstream SBC-affiliated churches, at least one of which had also allowed fundraising activities for it to be conducted on church property. It was not *totally* unreasonable for them to assume that the legitimacy of the "group" (NLRC) and its leader had been checked out by their church leaders. Though this excuse doesn't work so well for Carol Thompson, who was the "missions coordinator" for Central Valley Baptist Church, and thus should have been involved in the checking out, or made sure church leaders had checked it out before it was posted on the church website (possibly by Carol herself). This may be why she appears to be sort of taking the lead in the anti-Silsby push in the group -- she was the only person who actually signed the "we've been lied to" note that listed the other seven, that was slipped out to the NBC producer. She has good reason to feel responsible for getting the others into this mess.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

The police in El Salvador have begun an investigation into whether a man suspected of leading a trafficking ring involving Central American and Caribbean women and girls is also a legal adviser to many of the Americans charged with trying to take 33 children out of Haiti without permission.

I'd mentioned a while back that I wondered if Silsby was really acting alone in this scheme. Very glad to see that the Haitian authorities have been alerted to this.

Thanks for posting this! It didn't come up on my regular search for "laura silsby" because her name doesn't appear in it anywhere.

 

[i.b.nora]

Well, I am reading everything that you are writing Izzy, but I have to say that I am not really on board with you about alot of it.

I don't think Silsby is bi-polar, I don't think the youth pastor has anything to do with anything other than the fact that his sister is married to Paul Thompson. Silas also went on a mission to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee last year, I guess that might qualify as a foreign country? Anyhow, not buying that previous missions have any connections.

Whether Puello is a trafficker remains to be seen. I probably shouldn't even have asked the question of how they met. I have a feeling they met in a hotel. Remember, Laura Silsby and Charise Coulter had been in the Dominican Republic in late December and early January, I think. They probably met him at that time, and probably in a hotel.

The intrigue for me is that this seems to be an international scam artist vs scam artist caper.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

But, how would the Baptists have latched onto him?

My guess is that he latched on them, not the other way around. What better way to run a child trafficking operation than to seek out and latch on to American church groups that are obviously in way over their heads. His first contact would certainly have been with Silsby, and it wouldn't have taken him long to figure out that she'd be more than willing to skirt laws and ethics. But if he is behind a lot of this, I suspect that Silsby didn't follow his instructions closely, because she's accustomed to being in charge and doing whatever she wants. Scary, because if she had, they'd probably have succeeded in getting those children out of Haiti.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

It's not unusual for churches to be involved in a lot of foreign mission work, and the economic and political problems that put some countries high on the list for mission work, also make those countries attractive to human traffickers. I think it's very rare for church groups (at least those affiliated with large mainstream denominations) to *knowingly* be involved in human trafficking, but it's probably fairly common for them to get duped into unwittingly helping traffickers. They make a nice innocent-looking front, and so would be very attractive to traffickers looking for dupes.

 

[i.b.nora]

Pink: "My guess is that he latched on them, not the other way around."

I agree.

 

[i.b.nora]

In addition to Jorge Puello and his brother Alejandro Puello both claiming to be lawyers, it looks like they are also in the Real Estate business.

Here is the cached version of their Puello Real Estate Group

snip:

Puello Real Estate Group, está ubicado en el 359 Avenida Duarte, Esq. Paseo de los Cronistas de Arte, Segundo Piso, Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana.

Teléfonos 1-829-733-9277

Departamento de Ventas y Administracion de Alquileres:

Lic. Jorge A. T. Puello, Cel. 829-818-8770

Departamento Legal y Juridico:

Lic. Alejandro Puello, Abogado, Cel. 829-572-7800

Perhaps they made arrangements for Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter to rent those rooms at that hotel/motel for their orphanage/carribean getaway ?

Jorge also signed up for a website (which currently is not accessible):

Domain Name.......... puello-consulting.com
Creation Date........ 2009-12-09
Registration Date.... 2009-12-09
Expiry Date.......... 2010-12-09
Organisation Name.... Jorge Puello
Organisation Address. Avenida Duarte 359 2do Piso
Organisation Address.
Organisation Address. Santo Domingo
Organisation Address. 00000
Organisation Address. PR
Organisation Address. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Admin Name........... Jorge Puello
Admin Address........ 1111 NO DR
Admin Address........
Admin Address........ Santo Domingo
Admin Address........ 00000
Admin Address........ PR
Admin Address........ DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Admin Email.......... [email protected]

So, he is in the consulting business as well.

 

[i.b.nora]

The latest from the Associated Press:

DR lawyer for Americans in Haiti has no license
By DIONISIO SOLDEVILA Associated Press Writer © 2010 The Associated Press
Feb. 12, 2010, 5:33PM

So, it was speculated earlier but now with this article it seems to be true, Jorge Puello does NOT have a license to practice law in the Dominican Republic.

From the article: "Jorge Puello, who has been a high-profile advocate for the jailed Baptists as they navigate the Haitian justice system, is in apparent violation of Dominican law for failing to register with the local bar association or obtain a license, said Jose Parra, vice president of the Dominican Lawyers Association.

Parra said his organization was still investigating the situation and might file a complaint with the Justice Department, which could pursue criminal charges."

and

"The Web site for Puello Consulting says it has offered "full legal services" for businesses in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere since 2005. The site was taken down Friday for unknown reasons."

and just noticed this

Sean Lankford of Meridian, Idaho, whose wife and daughter are among those detained, said Puello provided his services for free.

"He's really shown himself to be completely trustworthy, and I truly believe he has done everything to help our people and to help us," he said in a telephone interview from Idaho.

Lankford said Puello contacted relatives of the Americans to volunteer his services.