Human Predators Stalk Haiti's Vulnerable Kids

[jeriwho]

One of the most "under-reported stories" of 2008. No wonder I hadn't heard of it. So what are the Baptists wanting to hide:

http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/3719/53/

"Facing calls to curb child sex abuse within its churches, in June the Southern Baptist Convention -- the largest U.S. religious body after the Catholic Church -- urged local hiring committees to conduct federal background checks but rejected a proposal to create a central database of staff and clergy who have been either convicted of or indicted on charges of molesting minors," the magazine noted.

"The SBC decided against such a database in part because its principle of local autonomy means it cannot compel individual churches to report any information. And while the headlines regarding churches and pedophilia remain largely focused on Catholic parishes, the lack of hierarchical structure and systematized record-keeping in most Protestant churches makes it harder not only for church leaders to impose standards, but for interested parties to track allegations of abuse."

If you want to follow a clear trail of abuses in the SBC, which the SBC has covered up for decades, you can check Christa Brown's STOP BAPTIST PREDATORS sites. She has a "tracking site" that keeps track of cases, and a blog in which she explores cases in depth:

Tracking Site: http://stopbaptistpredators.org/index.htm
Blog: http://stopbaptistpredators.blogspot.com/

Though I have written a lot of commentary on the case (while Christa was in New York), normally I cover sex abuse of children (and other abuses) in Christian Fundamentalism, mostly Independent Baptist churches. And yes, the extent of cover up is incredible, and the amount of abuse rivals that of the Catholic Church. It is just way under-reported. (I also write and produce materials to help victims regain their faith or at least relearn it so they can decide more clearly if they do or do not believe.)

Blog on the Lillypad: http://www.jeriwho.net/lillypad2/blogger.htm

 

[Missizzy]

Jeriwho--Welcome. I look forward to reading your blog. I was surprised to find that site also. I've been spending the last few days perusing it. I posted a link to it in Post #93 and I think around the same time there was discussion about a Canadian Priest and a youth pastor (IIRC) who have been detained on charges. The site is described as "The Voice of SNAP Baptist". SNAP was very vocal concerning the Mohler family and their leadership roles within the Community of Christ Church and the RLDS.

It's heart-breaking to me to look at the header as the songline, "This little light of mine..." is taught to all Baptist children. After reading the site it's so obvious why the Baptists wouldn't go for the database.

ITA, these cases are far under-reported. I'm so hopeful that the Silsby mess will expose some of the travesties in the "charitable" orphanages in Haiti which have been going under-reported and unreported for decades. Two other links already posted but maybe worth looking at again:

http://open.salon.com/blog/ezili_da..._of_haiti_children_by_priests_charity_workers

The section titled "Going Shopping in Haiti" is extremely disturbing.

".....It’s all hidden, of course, behind the mask of being good humanitarians, altruistic charity workers and helping Haitians."

Once again, welcome, jeriwho!!

 

[Missizzy]

This site is proving wonderful insight via a Haitian woman's viewpoint on what is going on currently in Haiti:

http://opensalon.com/blog/ezili_dan...m_womb_to_tomb_our_lives_are_struggle/comment

"These displaced children or eathquake orphans need immediate shelter, food, medical treatment, security, sanitation. Their parents may have been separated from them and if not, now is not the time to also abruptly deny them cultural sovereignty and the right to mourn and heal with the support of their community. Family in Haiti is more than the nucleus mom/dad/children in the Euro/American way. It's extended further.....

"There could be some intermediate measure taken besides flying them off with strangers, no matter how well meaning. Those truly interested in the best interests of the child may help make sure that immediate emergency relief reach these children....."



Wise words, to my mind.

 

[Missizzy]

I don't think that this has been posted. If it has, I'll delete. Check this out on Amazon:

"Travesty in Haiti: A true account of Christian missions, orphanages, fraud, food aid and drug trafficking" by Timothy T Schwartz Ph.D.

The book was published in 2008 by an anthropologist and seems to be well reviewed. I wish this would have been available when we traveled to Haiti to adopt in 1989 and came face to face with some very nasty and un-child-friendly practices. What I'm reading leads me to believe that our experience was not rare.

Here's a link to another review of the book by the woman who writes the blog I linked to above:

http://www.margueritelaurent.com/law/travesty.html#travesty

 

[jeriwho]

Decades ago, Diane Sawyer (either on Primetime Live or 20/20) and a team of reporters visited one of the impoverished countries to our south as part of an expose of television evangelists. They landed, at one point, at a small orphanage, run by a very genial man who had about a dozen or so children. Sawyer herself noted that the children seemed genuinely happy, genuinely cared for, and genuinely educated (as opposed to being worked in the fields). He had taught music to them, and they could plink away on a guitar and sing.

But at the end of the visit, the man, who has been told they were a group sent by a televangelism ministry, pulled out a big photo album and showed them how, for so much money, they could spread a big banner across the front of his orphanage with their name on it, and get lots of pictures of them with the kids, and go back to the USA and put it on TV and rake in thousands in donations. Then he showed them staged photos of other televangelists who had come down and down that very thing.

At the time, I was horrified, but this man actually seems pretty tame, these days. When they told him who they really were, he got all upset and protested to them that he had never treated those children badly, and he really was running an orphanage. They did try to extricate themselves as graciously as possible, because he did not appear to be abusing the children. But they were very clear that this orphanage marketing was just that, a marketing scam of some televangelists to rake in thousands.

 

[i.b.nora]

New bit of info this morning:

"December 2009 * Leaving the U.S.?
Silsby tells a Kuna retailer she soon would be leaving the country, according to the Wall Street Journal. A judge orders Silsby to hand over her two children's passports. "
http://www.idahostatesman.com/localnews/story/1071122.html

I presume everyone has seen the article that Pink linked? Besides what Pink has noted above, it looks like this incident last year led to the confiscation of the passports:

July 2009 * Travel to Haiti; home default

•Silsby and Charisa Coulter travel to the Dominican Republic and Haiti to "lay the groundwork" for an orphanage, according to the Wall Street Journal. Custody documents say Silsby took two of her children, sparking a disagreement with her ex-husband.

Another thing I found notable was that the article says that Carla Thompson is NOT related to the Eastside Pastor Thompson. At this stage of the game she is starting to appear as the only one with any gumption. She is the one that appears to have signed the note and probably gave it to the NBC producer. Good for her!

I guess its the two pastors that know each other, the Central Valley one got the Eastside one involved?

 

[i.b.nora]

I don't think that this has been posted. If it has, I'll delete. Check this out on Amazon:

"Travesty in Haiti: A true account of Christian missions, orphanages, fraud, food aid and drug trafficking" by Timothy T Schwartz Ph.D.

The book was published in 2008 by an anthropologist and seems to be well reviewed. I wish this would have been available when we traveled to Haiti to adopt in 1989 and came face to face with some very nasty and un-child-friendly practices. What I'm reading leads me to believe that our experience was not rare.

Here's a link to another review of the book by the woman who writes the blog I linked to above:

http://www.margueritelaurent.com/law/travesty.html#travesty

Another notable post today. This book, the bits that the review included, really left me wanting to know more. I also wish he had used real names. The whole thing is just so disturbing. That so-called do gooders are just not so good. That it seems so pervasive. And, its not exclusive to Baptists. I think of all the extraneous stuff that I have read, this is really the most elucidating. Big things to think about, so I did, out in the garden, weeding.
Thanks for that link, Izzy!

 

[Missizzy]

I know many have said that the teens were duped into going and deserve some special consideration. I agree, they were duped. But they are not innocent. If these 18 and 19 year olds had broken the law in the US, we would not give them "the benefit of the doubt". We, here on WS, don't typically allow an older teen to slip by with much of anything. An adult is an adult.

I know this might not be a popular stance but then I'm extremely hard-nose with my kids. You break the law, you're on your own. You even put a single toe over the line, you're on your own. You've been told, you have free will. It's not as if you don't understand consequences of your actions. If you don't, you should, as you're an adult. Simple as that. You know the old saying, "Ignorantia juris non excusat" (Ignorance is no excuse for the law).

I certainly hope these teens stay safe and I wish them no harm. But, you go to another country and break the law...whether it's buying drugs or pirated CDs, spitting on the sidewalk, wearing a mini-skirt, or trafficking little kids, you deserve whatever punishment the host country metes out. You should have checked before you left. Most likely any one of these "kids" could have accessed the actual Haitian law pertaining to the penalties for child trafficking in Haiti.

My guess is that every one of them has been taught in their church to not go along with the crowd but to think for themselves....to follow the word of God. And God's word (as these kids would most likely define it, the Bible, is quite clear on taking what is not yours).

This might be the strongest lesson these young adults ever learn. I doubt they'll ever forget it.

 

[i.b.nora]

Most recent WSJ article:

FEBRUARY 7, 2010, 8:59 P.M. ET

Haitian Magistrate to Question Missionaries

By DAVID GAUTHIER-VILLARS And MIRIAM JORDAN

"Laura Silsby and the nine other U.S. missionaries detained in Haiti's quake-devastated capital and investigated for alleged abduction will be questioned Monday by the magistrate designated last week to conduct the probe, officials said over the weekend.

Bernard Saint-Vil, the investigating magistrate, is in charge of finding out what happened in late January, when Ms. Silsby and the other missionaries were arrested trying to leave Haiti with 33 children in tow."

#

"After an initial probe, a Haitian judge last week ordered that the missionaries be formally investigated. Most international media interpreted the ruling as meaning the Americans were being formally charged.

But Mazar Fortil, the government prosecutor who handled the initial probe, said over the weekend that charges only come at the end of the second, formal investigation, which could take weeks or months. The confusion came over the translation of the French word "inculpation," which is often wrongly interpreted as "inculpate."

It is unclear who will represent the missionaries during questioning because their attorney in the neighboring Dominican Republic, Jorge Puello, said he had fired the group's Haitian lawyer, Edwin Coq. Mr. Puello, who said he is coordinating the defense of the U.S. missionaries, said he hoped to have arranged new legal representation for the Americans by Sunday night."

There is more, it talks about extortion and about Haitian adoptions.

 

[Missizzy]

I know Haitian names can get very confusing to some of us but I find it a great coincidence that the name of the investigating magistrate is Bernard Saint-Vil. We've heard of a Sanvil, a Sanbil, and an Sainvil in connection with Laura. Just hmmmm.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

I know many have said that the teens were duped into going and deserve some special consideration. I agree, they were duped. But they are not innocent. If these 18 and 19 year olds had broken the law in the US, we would not give them "the benefit of the doubt". We, here on WS, don't typically allow an older teen to slip by with much of anything. An adult is an adult.

I totally disagree, because each of these teenagers went there WITH one of their parents, and most likely both of them still live with their parents and are financially dependent on them. The 18 year old girl went with her mother who has homeschooled her and her siblings, and with the encouragement of both her father and the pastor of the church that she and her family attend. The 19 year old boy went with his father who is also the pastor of his church, and with whom he has previously gone on mission trips to foreign countries. This is not a case of teenagers running out and doing something stupid on their own. This is a case of teenagers trusting parents and authority figures who in their 18-19 years of experience, have never caused the teenagers to have any reason not to trust them.

The parents and pastors should be hanging their heads in shame, for not checking out this "plan" and the woman leading it, before dragging their trusting teenage offspring and members of their churches into it. They should take whatever punishment the Haitian court metes out (if it's really outrageous, the US government will intervene). But not the teenagers -- they did *not* get themselves into this mess.

As for how they'd be handled in the US, it's very doubtful they'd even get a slap on the wrist for something like this, if they'd been doing it with their parents, who in turn had clean records. Most likely they'd be given a few months probation, with the charges to be dropped off their records completely if they stay out of trouble for the probation period.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

Another thing I found notable was that the article says that Carla Thompson is NOT related to the Eastside Pastor Thompson. . . . I guess its the two pastors that know each other, the Central Valley one got the Eastside one involved?

i.b.nora -- Per info from an article you previously posted, "Carla Thompson, 53, of Meridian, ID is listed as the Missions Coordinator for the Central Valley Baptist Church." She may be taking the lead now because she actively helped recruit people into this.

Another article said Paul Thompson is a friend of the Central Valley pastor Clint Henry, but I imagine many of the SBC pastors in Idaho and surrounding states know each other quite well, so it's not clear how significant that link is. There have been several articles mentioning people e-mailing friends about this mission trip, and while we've only heard about the two Idaho churches having information about it on their websites, I'd be interested to know if other Idaho SBC churches had also posted the information on their websites or otherwise given the plan any publicity at their churches. Maybe we just didn't hear about it because nobody from those churches ended up going, so nobody has thought to check other church websites (which presumably would have pulled the info off their sites by now). It may be that's it's fairly common for a church that's spearheading something like this to cross-post information on the websites of SBC churches in the state or region.

 

[i.b.nora]

i.b.nora -- Per info from an article you previously posted, "Carla Thompson, 53, of Meridian, ID is listed as the Missions Coordinator for the Central Valley Baptist Church." She may be taking the lead now because she actively helped recruit people into this.

Another article said Paul Thompson is a friend of the Central Valley pastor Clint Henry, but I imagine many of the SBC pastors in Idaho and surrounding states know each other quite well, so it's not clear how significant that link is. ...

I think that on the original Central Valley Baptist Church website Carla was listed there as the Missions Coordinator for the Church. That doesn't mean she was 'coordinating' this mission. Obviously, she wasn't. Anyhow, the website seems to have been trimmed, so impossible to find out right now. Also, it might have appeared in one of their newsletters. I know that some mission information for Carla and for the Lankfords appeared in a couple of newsletters.

If Laura picked up on it and added it to her Travel Brochure for the Children's Spa and Retreat, well you know, thats just Laura. Quite the saleslady.

Not sure what your point is about SBC ministers knowing one another, of course they do. Some probably better than others. I was just noting what the news article stated. Don't know that it is the definitive answer to how the two Churches got connected for this caper.

 

[Missizzy]

Pink--While I'm sure their young age will be taken into consideration, I still can't let them off the hook. Imagine if this happened in the states. Are we going to give a legal adult a free pass because he/she followed Mom along on a kidnapping scheme?

Of course, the parents should be ashamed but the only way these kids are going to learn to think for themselves and to not be led around like lemmings, is to suffer the consequences of this crime.

I'm actually very disappointed but not overly surprised that the teens did just follow along. I think some (not all) kids who grow up completely home schooled AND somewhat isolated within a church family put far too much trust in their parents/elders and will follow the status quo without asking questions.

The parents/elders should certainly counsel the kids and be available with advice but young adults need to think for themselves. Teens, by nature are a questioning lot. If a church or a group truly has nothing to hide, answer the kids' questions, encourage them to do their own research and support them when they make wise decisions for themselves. If your church or group is the right fit for them, they'll hang around.

Indoctrination doesn't usually hold up well in the long run IMO.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

i.b.nora -- I would assume that as Missions Coordinator for Central Valley Baptist, Carla was in charge of publicizing mission plans, helping recruit volunteers, soliciting donations, etc (and we've heard that donations were collected at the church for this mission). And this *might* have also included putting out info about planned missions to other SBC churches in Idaho. If the latter wasn't part of her role, and this info wasn't on the websites of any besides these two churches, then the friendship between Clint Henry and Paul Thompson is probably the only reason Thompson's church got involved.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

Pink--Imagine if this happened in the states. Are we going to give a legal adult a free pass because he/she followed Mom along on a kidnapping scheme?

I'm sure it happens all the time. If an 18 or 19 year old with no criminal record is accompanying their parent who also has no criminal record, as the parent commits a serious crime, it would be very unlikely for the 18 or 19 year old to receive more than probation and an expungement from the record is completely successfully. In the scenario we have here, where the parent also appears to have genuinely not known they were aiding in the commission of a crime, the parent would very likely get the same treatment -- probation followed by expungement, no jail time whatsoever. Intent is *huge* in our common law system.

The parents/elders should certainly counsel the kids and be available with advice but young adults need to think for themselves.

I just think it's completely unrealistic to expect an 18 or 19 year old to go run a legal and background check before agreeing to accompany one of their parents on a church mission, when they've never before had any reason to distrust their parents or pastors. I can't think of any 18 or 19 year old I've ever met who would do that. And I don't think any US judge would expect that either.

 

[i.b.nora]

Web-posted Monday, February 8, 2010

Haiti detainees: Wife breaks silence
Missionary called a 'godly man'
By David Pittman

"Lisa Allen, wife of the Baptist missionary from Amarillo who is jailed in Haiti on kidnapping charges, broke silence on her husband's detainment in the Caribbean country Sunday when she delivered a recorded video statement at Paramount Baptist Church."

Video: Lisa Allen addresses Paramount Baptist church family

I can't hear a thing on the video, hope you can. Wish they had supplied popcorn to go along with it.

""Jim did not know all the specifics of the trip, but I know Jim is a godly man who would never, ever break a law anywhere," Lisa Allen said during the video, which ran less than two minutes and included several family photos. "If he knew something wrong was being done, he would not have participated in it."

Lisa Allen said in the video that her husband had less than 48 hours to make a decision to travel to Haiti to help an orphanage in the earthquake- ravaged country. Jim Allen, 47, received word his cousin, former Amarillo youth minister Paul Thompson, who runs an Idaho-based missionary group, was organizing the trip. Jim Allen wanted to help the struggling country and turned to Thompson and the Idaho missionary when other avenues to help feel through, Lisa Allen said Sunday."

and

"Lisa Allen said her husband's role would be helping build and repair things. Jim Allen owns Allison Welding in Amarillo."

and

"The Allens' children, Landon and Jordan, created a Facebook page, "Bring Jim Allen Home!!!", which counted about 1,400 members Sunday. Landon and Jordan are students at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

Paramount Baptist's Web site, www.paramount.org, is providing updates on the situation."

 

[i.b.nora]

Tape Shows Haiti Police Questioning Silsby
Leader of Baptist Missionary Group Seen Being Interrogated After Trying to Cross Dominican Border With Children

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb. 8, 2010
Bill Whitaker reports on new video released that reveals the arrest of the ten Baptist Americans being held in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on charges of trying to kidnap 33 children.

There are a few sub-titles so even if you can't hear the sound, you can read the sub-titles, and it is interesting to watch all the people holding the babies, all that is except 'the nanny'. In fairness, however, she might have been feeling sick at the time.

 

[Texas Mist]

Five Americans Appear in Court in Haiti Kidnapping Case

Updated: Monday, 08 Feb 2010, 11:18 AM MST
Published : Monday, 08 Feb 2010, 11:11 AM MST

(AFP from NewsCore) – Five of 10 American Baptists charged with kidnapping and conspiracy appeared at a Haitian court Monday for hearings on their attempt to take a busload of children to the neighboring Dominican Republic.

Laura Silsby, group's leader, was among those taken to the court for hearings, a judicial source close to the case told AFP. The other five would go to court on Tuesday.

"We will get into the details today," the source said, adding that any request to transfer the case to the United States would be studied before a decision is finalized.

The 10 Americans from Idaho will then be heard together on Wednesday to iron out any potential contradictions in their accounts of the incident.

more here

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpps/ne...-in-haiti-kidnapping-case-fc-20100208_6009659

 

[i.b.nora]

Idahoans in Haiti agreed to pay $7,000 a month to house children in church center, newspaper says

"The leader of 10 American Baptists now detained in Haiti on suspicion of kidnapping agreed to pay a Catholic diocese $7,000 a month to house the children she was bringing from Haiti in a church-run training and retreat center, a newspaper in the Dominican Republic says.

The Catholic Church operates the center in a former three-star hotel in the beach-resort town of Cabarete, Listin Diario reports.

The urgency of the need to find shelter for 33 Haitian children the Baptists were bringing to the Dominican Republic convinced the head of the diocese that he should rent rooms to her, even though the church was already using the rooms for other purposes, the paper said.

That suggests that Laura Silsby, the Boise woman who organized the trip to Haiti to find children new homes after the Jan. 12 earthquake, didn't have housing for the children already lined up when she and the other Baptists first went to Haiti.

The church agreed to rent 45 rooms for six months, the paper said."