Human Predators Stalk Haiti's Vulnerable Kids

[pinkpuddytat]

I keep wondering about Hewlett-Packard connection between Silsby and the Lankford family. It's a big company and apparently it's been several years since Silsby worked for it (if she ever really did -- I haven't seen any source of that except her own PR releases), but it's still quite a coincidence. It's another thing that's making me hesitate to declare the whole group innocent except Silsby and Coulter.

With the information i.b.nora dug up about family relationships between some of the ones who don't share a last name (much of which has since been confirmed in mainstream media sources), there's an appearance of a close-knit group here. The sort of group a scammer assembles as her inner circle, because she can trust them not to let all the sucker-donors know it's a scam. But then there have also been clues that that's not how the group was assembled, like the man who told a reporter about an e-mail he'd gotten from one of the arrested men, asking him if he'd like to come on the trip or knew of anybody else who would.

 

[Missizzy]

i.b.nora--A very fine post, thanks so much. I'm just gob-smacked that Pastor Thompson would leave his flock and take off on this scheme. Does Laura have her hooks into him somehow? Eastside is a good sized, mainstream, well-respected church from what I can tell. This does not sound like the typical actions of an established Baptist pastor. And Drew, the firefighter and Youth Pastor--again, just strange to me that he'd up and leave. I wonder what the actual plan was concerning length of stay. Pastors just leave their flocks?? I hate to say it but this is taking on "parable" status.

Pink--I had to laugh about the comment. Well, look what did happen when you put the reigns in a woman's hands!! Set Baptist women back a few decades in one fell swoop IMO.

 

[Missizzy]

Pink--ITA, I'd be balling my eyes out and pleading the reporters to let me speak. I'd beg everyone's forgiveness and say that I was foolish in following this woman and that I actually wanted protection and separation from her. I'd distance myself as much as I could. We're talking self preservation here. Why are they so blind to this? They all look so blank and deluded. A Baptist pastor?

This is horrid but I'm reminded of cult leaders. I read the Jeff Lundgren story for background info on the RLDS and the Mohler case. Jeff's followers were good-hearted, church-going people who followed Jeff anywhere, murdered a family of five at his command, and allowed him to have sex with their wives and children.

When Jeff left them in Missouri to continue running, they stood there totally flummoxed. They were exactly like sheep who lost sight of the shepherd or the sheepdog. They could not believe that Jeff could have left them adrift.

After all, God was talking to Jeff. All the way to the death chamber for him and life in prison for most of his followers.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

And Drew, the firefighter and Youth Pastor again, just strange to me that he'd up and leave.

The "youth pastor" thing makes me a bit nervous. Of course we have no evidence at all that this man is anything but a fine human being who is easily duped. But the track record of "youth pastors" -- and especially of those who participate in sketchy child-focused "missions" to third world countries where there are lot of abandoned children who don't have anybody to tell when bad things are done to them, and where the legal system is skimpy and corrupt -- is not pleasant. This "mission" is, intentionally or not, a classic "access to children" opportunity for pedophiles.

 

[Missizzy]

So, this article tells us that Paul's wife is Renee Thompson. I wonder if Carla might be a sister. She's a few years older than Paul.

http://media.amarillo.com/web_haiti1.shtml

"We just hope they're not made an example to the world that they mean business," said Shirley Thompson of Amarillo, mother and grandmother of Paul and Silas Thompson. "I just pray this judge's heart will be turned by the Lord to release them."

Shirley Thompson said she was told by her daughter-in-law, Renee Thompson, that the group realized at the border Friday night that it needed one more document to pass through into the Dominican Republic. One team member returned to Port-au-Prince to get the last of the paperwork."


Mrs. Thompson, I'm afraid the Haitians do "mean business." Your son and grandsons just got caught abducting some of their kids. Wouldn't you "mean business" if some Haitian missionaries came to Amarillo and abducted some American kids?


I wonder what that last line means--one person returning to Port au Prince to get paperwork?

 

[Missizzy]

Thank you Pink, for mentioning that very large elephant standing in the room. I've noticed him from day one but thought it might just be me imagining things. I've burned the midnight oil checking out these guys and haven't found anything yet.

I have the same reaction to the title "youth pastor"--no doubt because that job title shows up so frequently on our threads. Remember, Darrel Mohler's son is a youth pastor in Florida who also leads teen missionary groups.

ITA, classic. That's why I wonder why the men are not grabbing the mike and saying "I'm not with this crazy woman anymore. I want to go home to my family and my church."

 

[Missizzy]

This is not a pretty thought but I'll throw it out there. IMO, the Haitian people are beautiful and graceful with the most luminous skin. I am highly attracted to their physical appearance--but then, most of my children are black.

Anyway, most of the rape survivors in our family are also our children of color (now young adults). We know pornographic photos of them were taken. We worked with LE and the FBI 10-11 years ago trying to find those photos. We were told at that time by an FBI agent that for whatever reason, child of black toddlers and children is not in near as high demand as that of lighter skinned children. As you can imagine that left me with vastly polarized emotions. All children are beautiful. How could people not see this? That was countered by, "Thank God, maybe they won't be able to sell my babies' pictures."

I mention this as I'm just wracking my brain trying to figure out the men's role in all this. If Laura is the schmoozer that we know her to be and she clearly has no trouble handling some burly Haitian guards (in fact she giggles with them), why did she need these men? I would think she could have gotten most of her work done with a paid Haitian guide.

The sexual abuse I've known about personally in Haiti and which I've turned up and linked to on this thread, most notably the priest and the youth pastor, concerned actual pedophilia in a an organized setting. I don't know about sex rings but I do know that some "charities" definitely have some known bad apples. These guys are allowed to stay due to the monetary support they provide and the links to funds back in the states. I find it very interesting how often it was mentioned to us during our trip to Haiti that male missionaries had visited recently.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

I wonder what that last line means--one person returning to Port au Prince to get paperwork?

I'm sure it's a reference to what Silsby has said to reporters about being "willing to go back at the 6AM the very next morning to handle the paperwork". Yeah, sure, just let me get 33 kids with no paperwork, passports or identities confirmed by anyone by me, out of the country, and I promise come right back to get that pesky paperwork stuff dealt with. Never mind that no one had offered to provide her with any paperwork to authorize removal of th children from Haiti, the next morning or ever.

New little tidbit. http://www.idahostatesman.com/earthquake/story/1069978.html The Haitian lawyer, Edwin Coq, who's telling the world Silsby is guilty, is "himself a Baptist who was contacted by a pastor from a Baptist church in Haiti to represent the Americans." Maybe the SBC should hire this guy for their PR department -- he's doing a much better job than they are, of clarifying to the world the difference between scammers calling themselves Baptists, and well-meaning real Baptists who got sucked into participating in a scam.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

She needed the men, and the other women, to create the appearance of a legitimate missionary group, to keep the funds flowing from the donors at the churches. She couldn't care less if the travelling group included some pedophiles.

 

[i.b.nora]

I just have to say, that so far, there is not one ounce of evidence that anyone involved in this is a pedophile. I think it is unfair to even suggest that anyone is.

 

[Missizzy]

So, Paul Thompson was a youth pastor in Amarillo before moving to Idaho and still has family there:

http://www.agn2go.com/articles/195996947

"Bud Allison is the father of Jim Allen, 47, of Amarillo, who was among those charged in the capital city of Port-au-Prince on Thursday. Also charged among the Idaho-based missionary group is Paul Thompson, a former youth minister in Amarillo, and his son, Silas, 19. Paul Thompson and Allen are cousins."

Thompson is the full Pastor of Eastside Baptist as shown on this page. BTW, this also lists Renee as his wife.

http://www.esbctwinfalls.com/templates/System/details.asp?id=24453&fetch=14348

http://www.esbctwinfalls.com/templates/System/details.asp?id=24453&PID=332435

I don't see a youth pastor listed for Eastside. John Martinez is in charge of Youth Sunday School and also just completed a two month Chaplain training. I did find their newsletters which I've read cover to cover. A few tidbits:

Paul and Silas have gone on several missionary trips.

David (another son) was stationed in Nebraska with the AF.

Mid 2009, there was talk about a couple going to the Ukraine and taking toys and supplies.

Paul and Renee celebrated their 20th anniversary

What I did NOT see in any of the newsletters of 2009 nor January 2010 are these words: Haiti or Laura Silsy (although many other new members are mentioned and profiled) or Carla Thompson. I also noted that Pastor Thompson seemed to have a full schedule planned for the month of January; sermons, Bible Study groups, a Church Council meeting on the 17th, and a 5th Sunday Sing on the 31st (which Pastor Thompson seems to be in charge of). Here's a link to the last newsletter:

http://www.esbctwinfalls.com/clientimages/24453/pdffiles/2010newsletter/january2010newsletter.pdf

So, for everyone who is part of a church family, would it strike you as odd that your Pastor would suddenly throw all his support behind a woman not even mentioned in a full years of newsletters? That he would up and leave with a full schedule? That the church didn't seem to have a great focus on Haiti but rather on the Ukraine? Would you wonder where the funds came from for the expensive flights?

Has Pastor Martinez taken over the helm. My heart goes out to him. I doubt that he expected that he'd be on the hot seat.

 

[i.b.nora]

Laura and Charise and Carla are all from Meridian and that surrounding area. Twin Falls is over two hours away.

Laura's father and mother live in and or near Twin Falls, and have a business in Twin Falls.

That plus the McMullens is, likely, imo the link.

Or, maybe Laura's father or brother made dentures for Pastor Thompson. I mean, who knows?

 

[pinkpuddytat]

I wasn't suggesting that he IS, merely that given the whole situation, he certainly should be scrutinized. If I was a parent of a child at the church where he's a youth pastor, I'd be wanting some extra background checking right now, just to make sure. He's a youth pastor who used very poor judgement in eagerly rushing to join a group where he'd have basically unsupervised access to untraceable children. Most likely, and hopefully, it WAS just "poor judgement".

But remember, he's from an SBC-affiliated church. In response to a rash of child molestation cases in its churches, the SBC proposed instituting a system of maintaining a database of church workers that would track reports about people who shouldn't be hired by another church due to suspected or confirmed inappropriate activities (of all kinds) at another church. The proposal met with so much resistance from its affiliated churches about the threat this posed to their independence, that the SBC had to drop the idea. Who knows if the church where he serves does anything at all in the way of background checks before letting someone serve as a youth pastor. They sure didn't doing any checking on Laura Silsby before allowing her to post solicitations for money and volunteers on their website.

The fact is that the type of operation this was, and the way Silsby was recruiting participants (e.g. website postings), and having other members of the group try to recruit participants (e.g. last minute e-mails to random friends, to be forwarded to other people), created a huge risk of one or more pedophiles jumping on board. If she'd gotten these kids out of Haiti and continued the way she's been running this thing, it's a near certainty that sooner or later at least one pedophile would have gotten word of the opportunity and headed down to "help".

As a youth pastor, shouldn't Culberth, of all people, have been aware of the need to thoroughly check out people who claim to be devoted to "helping children"? It's very unlikely that he's actually a pedophile himself, but he doesn't seem savvy about enough risks to children from unscrupulous people, to be serving as a youth pastor.

I really don't think there's anything wrong with pointing out "profile" factor in this situation. Hopefully, if Culberth feels the heat of suspicion, and members of his church are made to realize that it sounds a bit sketchy for a youth pastor to have gotten involved in something like this, they'll respond by tightening up their approach to checking out the people they appoint and sponsor to deal with children.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

So, for everyone who is party of a church family, would it strike you as odd that your Pastor would suddenly throw all his support behind a woman not even mentioned in a full years of newsletters? That he would up and leave with a full schedule? That the church didn't seem to have a great focus on Haiti but rather on the Ukraine? Would you wonder where the funds came from for the expensive flights?

I don't belong to a church, but I suppose it would depend on his history. Since apparently he and his son have gone on several mission trips in the past, it wouldn't necessarily seem odd. Lots of people and legitimate organizations that don't have a history of involvement with Haiti are responding now, due to the huge need that arose without warning.

Re the funds for the expensive flights, it's pretty clear that they came from donors, mainly from these two churches, and the pastor of one of the churches would be in a position to know that. And quite possibly some of the people who went on the trip paid their own airfare, as a donation to the organization's efforts.

I don't know how many different mission opportunities these churches habitually post or link to on their websites. Perhaps many. Laura Silsby may have suddenly come to the forefront by coincidence, since her original plan involved Haiti, and when the earthquake struck, all of sudden everyone was looking for a way to help Haiti, and she was already on their website, with a just-updated plan that people could donate to and enable her and her crew to get down to Haiti right away and start "helping children".

 

[pinkpuddytat]

If this story is true, I want Laura Silsby locked up for the rest of her life, at hard labor, IN HAITI:

http://www.wbko.com/news/headlines/83728562.html
Adopted Children Home Safe in Bowling Green (excerpts)

Ten American baptist missionaries are now charged with kidnapping for attempting to take 33 Haitian children out of the country. A local family says the ring leader, Laura Silsby, tried to take their adoptive children too.

. . . While Richard Pickett was in Haiti, Malinda received three separate phone calls from Laura Silsby saying she wanted to help out.

"When they get to the Dominican, I'll help you get them over. And I told her no," said Malinda, "my husband is over in Haiti advocating for our adoption to be finished and get our kids home and you know at this time I don't think we need any help."

Malinda says the phone calls raised some red flags. "Do you realize?" she asked Silsby, "we've been waiting 5 years to get our children, you know it's not that easy to just go to Haiti and pick up kids. You know, you can't do that."

"She kept persisting, and Malinda kept saying no, don't bother our children," said Richard, "and Laura decided to show up at the orphanage anyway, and ask for our children, and said that Malinda had sent her there. And our children were not there at the time, they were with me."

 

[Missizzy]

That is looooow. My Gosh, this woman's stripes are starting to really show. She was going to hold kids for ransom. A "mild form of extortion"? I think not. This woman is wicked. My mind keeps reeling at her ability to come up with so many schemes in the midst of a disaster zone.

I have to ask why nothing, absolutely nothing showed up in the church's newsletters about Laura? Has anyone seen mention that she was ever a member at Eastside? Was Charisa? I found neither of their names mentioned.

Pink--I have been a member of a church, a Baptist one, but it's been twenty years. I would find it odd, I think, knowing what I know about Haiti. I think my response would have been much like the adoptive mom's in the article. She KNEW what Laura could and couldn't do.

Man, things have really changed in Haiti. That family has waited 5 years for their kids. That's unprecedented in international adoption, IMO. I'd be worried that a "charitable" orphanage wasn't holding things up to get more support from the family. Five years is a lifetime for a child. Most international adoptions take 10-20 months from the first call (if you hold up your end of the paperwork morass). That's considered a standard for international placements.

 

[Missizzy]

A photo of Laura, dressed for success from a website dedicated to "tracking the religious right":

http://www.palibandaily.com/2010/02/05/laura-silsbys-messiah-complex/

Messiah Complex....huh.

 

[Missizzy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100207...lYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA2hhaXRpYW5sYXd5ZQ--

Haitian lawyer for jailed US missionaries fired

"The Haitian lawyer for 10 U.S. Baptists charged with child kidnapping tried to bribe the missionaries' way out of jail and has been fired, the attorney who hired him said Saturday night.

The Haitian lawyer, Edwin Coq, denied the allegation. He said the $60,000 he requested from the Americans' families was his fee.

Jorge Puello, the attorney in the neighboring Dominican Republic retained by relatives of the 10 American missionaries after their arrest last week, told The Associated Press that he fired Coq on Friday night. He had hired Coq to represent the detainees at Haitian legal proceedings."

 

[pinkpuddytat]

An article yesterday had the pastor at Central Baptist (not Eastside) saying the two had only been attending the church for a couple of years "at most".

 

[Missizzy]

This might be nothing at all. Probably just a coincidence. I've found a number of Lankfords--teens and adults in the Middleton and Caldwell area (the towns are only 7 miles apart). I noticed a name of a high school and school district which many are affiliated with--Vallivue.

I remembered seeing that name recently and did some checking back. William Ecker, the teen who stabbed his sister and was a young SO, lived in Caldwell. He was home-schooled but wore a Vallivue T-shirt in one of his photos on MS.

Middleton, Merdian, and Caldwell are all within a few miles of each other. Twin Falls is a bit further--130 miles from the others. How did Silsby gather folks (and money) from all these places? Did she go church to church, drumming up donations? If this were true, I'd think that every Southern Baptist church in Southern Idaho would have been involved but that doesn't seem to be the case. I wonder what drew her to these specific churches?