Human Predators Stalk Haiti's Vulnerable Kids

[i.b.nora]

...
Silsby has this "God-appointed plan" which seems framed within the Baptist children's song, "Jesus Loves the Little Children". She's acting as if children are interchangeable in Haiti because, after all, they might not even be "saved". I have to say, as this continues, I get more and more deeply offended for the children and families' sake as each day goes by.

These children have names, histories, personalities, quirks, challenges, gifts. They are each unique. Why does this smack so strongly of saving the Pagan Babies?

Because, that is the 'Mission'. Save the Pagan Babies. She should have called her organization that.

 

[i.b.nora]

On CNN tonight, with Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta both back in Haiti, they are mostly focusing on the people of Haiti and the incredible hurdles they face. Both last night and tonight it has been very informative.

However, there was a little bit about the Baptists, and apparently, after they were made to give up the first batch of kids they had kidnapped, the Baptists asked the kids to give back the stuffed toys they had given them.

 

[Missizzy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_haiti...5bl9oZWFkbGluZV9saXN0BHNsawNoYWl0aXBhcmVudHM-

Haiti parents testify they gave kids to Americans

"Parents of some of the children who 10 U.S. missionaries tried to take out of Haiti after its catastrophic earthquake told a judge Tuesday that they freely handed over their kids, the Americans' lawyer said.

The parents' testimony means no law was broken and "we can't talk any more about trafficking of human beings," attorney Aviol Fleurant told reporters.
He said he was confident the judge will dismiss the case.

Nine of the Americans, most from an Idaho church group, have now been interviewed by the judge, who is to decide whether they will stand trial. The judge did not speak with reporters."

 

[i.b.nora]

When I think about the $7,000 per month, that Silsby and Coulter had planned and apparently arranged to pay for the space at the hotel in the DR for at least six months, I think about how that same amount of money could have been used to help the families of the 40 + 33 children, to rebuild their homes, their schools, to pay the people to help themselves. The possibilities of how that money and the building skills of at least the 5 guys from Eastside might better have been used. And, presumably, no one would be in a Haitian jail because of it.

 

[Blue_Dolphin308]

This group tried to take more kids in the prior month before the earthquake as well.. Haiti government found that this same group attempted to take kids over the border in December. Not sure If i have a link for this, but I heard it on Cnn today as I was driving around.

 

[Blue_Dolphin308]

-- The American missionaries in Haiti facing kidnapping charges for trying to take 33 children out of the country last week made an earlier, unsuccessful attempt at taking dozens of other children, a Haitian police officer said.
The officer did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals. He told CNN on Monday that he had stopped the 10 Baptist missionaries, including group leader Laura Silsby, on January 26 as they tried to transport 40 children from Haiti to the Dominican Republic.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/09/haiti.border.arrests/?hpt=T2

 

[truckbomb]

If the elements of Kidnapping are the same in Haiti as here in the U.S, Sisly and the others are going down.

Kidnapping is a taking and conveying away a person against his or her will, either by force, fraud, or intimidation. Kidnapping is also committed if the consent to such removal is induced by fraud, or if the victim is legally incompetent to give a valid consent.

Sisly’s motivations and intentions were clear from the Mission Statement of her New Life Children’s Refuge. The Mission Statement of her New Life organization specifically says its purpose was to get Haitian children for adoption in the U.S.

Parents of the 33 children were told that the children would be kept in the DR in a resort like wonderful environment with schooling, soccer fields and even a swimming pool, that they would not be placed for adoption and could be visited often. She told them that she had government permission to carry out her plan. The resort did not exist, and the hotel owned by the reluctant Catholics was not under lease.

The group's own flyer said, " ... children who have lost their mother and father in the earthquake or have no one to love and care for them." These were not orphans!.

Clear and convincing fraud. And the others were in on this now having had the experience twice of knowing these were all lies intending to remove the children from their parents for adoption, conversion and the huge fees to be realized.

Whatever the status of the Haitian government the prosecutor and the judge are not fools or able to be manipulated by the likes of amateur Sisly.

If the Idaho supporters should send them anything it would be a 50 gallon drum of industrial strength mosquito repellant.

 

[Missizzy]

Ladybass--Yes, there was first a group of 40 and then a group of 33. If at once you don't succeed.....

i.b.nora--You came to that conclusion as you are a practical person and a clear thinker. You are committed to getting the most out of your investment or donation. That's what I'd call common sense. Something that Laura, sadly, has none of. I certainly hope that if or when she is released she has to sign a promise to never "sell this story". Can't you just see it making the rounds next year? As all her employees and creditors go unpaid, she'd be raking in the royalties. Grrrrrrr.

As to the parents agreeing they allowed Silsby to take their children, I wonder how much that cost the good people of Idaho? I certainly wouldn't begrudge a single one of them in taking a little money under the table to agree to that. Times are awful and the money can feed the family. What'll you bet?

 

[Missizzy]

Truckbomb--I don't know if you've read the entire thread, but I posted early on concerning the definition of human trafficking. An excellent resource:

http://www.polarisproject.org/content/view/26/47/

http://www.polarisproject.org

If Silsby's actions don't meet the criteria for trafficking, it is most definitely kidnapping. Notice all the nasty words which go along with these crimes: slavery, sex, exploitation, profit, abuse, servitude, fraud..........

I can't find the part about "God-appointed".

 

[i.b.nora]

...
As to the parents agreeing they allowed Silsby to take their children, I wonder how much that cost the good people of Idaho? I certainly wouldn't begrudge a single one of them in taking a little money under the table to agree to that. Times are awful and the money can feed the family. What'll you bet?

Just about the same time you were writing that, I was thinking, oh brother! If these people 'get off' because of the testimony of people who said they had given permission, then, those Idaho Baptists had better plan on monetarily supporting those people, those families for the rest of their lives.

Either way, I would say, yup!

 

[truckbomb]

Yes, I read the note and the links. The problem here is the morons haven't been charged (yet) with Trafficing. There is plenty of time, though.

What really gets to me is Anderson C's CNN report tonight that when the group were forced by the police officer to give up the kids from the first batch of 40, the "Christians" took back the toys they had already given one of them. These are decent people?

 

[i.b.nora]

A father and husband speak about family members in Haiti

An article and a video

by Ysabel Bilbao
Idaho's NewsChannel
Posted on February 9, 2010 at 6:41 PM

"MERIDIAN -- The Haitian attorney for the jailed Americans, once again, demanded their release saying the Americans love Haiti and they shouldn't be kept in jail.

It's a sentiment echoed by family members back in Idaho.

The two men claim their loved ones acted out of selflessness and they were courageous, and they believe their efforts to love the Haitian children, should not be overlooked by the legal system.

"Some people suggested that, that because of the amount of aid, maybe they should look at our 10 loved ones differently," said Charisa Coulter's father, Mel Coulter. "No, I think they need to look at our loved ones through the eyes of love. Their willingness to love the Haitian children and express that same love back."

This is the first time since the charges were made that we have heard from Eric Thompson and Mel Coulter.

Thompson's wife is Carla, the Meridian woman suffering from an infection in her leg."

and more . . .

 

[pinkpuddytat]

At some point the eight volunteers became part of the conspiracy. That was at least when the group tried to take the first batch of 40 and were stopped by the cop who released the children and warned them all that this activity was unlawful in Haiti. That was the time for the eight to bail but they didn’t. By participating in collecting the second batch, where they were stopped at the border, the eight became active participants in the kidnapping and trafficking,

I'd want to know more details of what went on when this first attempt to leave with 40 children was intercepted, before I'd conclude the other 8 "became part of the conspiracy" at that point. (And I'm classifying the two teenagers as innocent no matter what, because they were just trusting their parents when they went along on this crazy trip, and have probably continued to trust their parents and follow their parents' lead as it became clear something was terribly wrong with the whole "plan".)

Remember that:
1) There's plenty of evidence that Silsby has been an aggressive manipulator, and routinely uses blatant dishonesty to effect her maniputlations of other people, and
2) There were translators/interpreters involved in some if not all of the encounters between the group and Haitian officials, and in at least some of the reported encounters, Silsby was the only one present or at least the only one directly communicating with officials. I can easily see Silsby doing a "let me handle this" routine when they were stopped with the 40 children, having a talk with the police via an interpreter, with only herself actually hearing what the interpreter said. Then Silsby goes back to the group and says "There's just one more piece of documentation we need, and they're not going to let us cross the border until we get it", when actually what the police had told her was "You obviously have no authorization whatsoever to remove these children from Haiti and if you try to do it again you and your whole group will be arrested and charged with child trafficking."

I absolutely would not put it past Silsby to flat-out lie to the rest of the group, in order to prevent a mutiny. I've heard at least one member of the group (can't recall which) repeat the line "We were just missing one document". My guess is that the person saying that actually believed it, and got this misinformation from Silsby.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

"Parents of some of the children who 10 U.S. missionaries tried to take out of Haiti after its catastrophic earthquake told a judge Tuesday that they freely handed over their kids, the Americans' lawyer said. The parents' testimony means no law was broken and "we can't talk any more about trafficking of human beings," attorney Aviol Fleurant told reporters. He said he was confident the judge will dismiss the case.

Bull. Per the prime minister's order, it was illegal for anyone to remove any child from the country without the prime minister's personal signature (along with lots of other standard documentation, including a passport for the child). Sadly, Haitian parents routinely sell their children to traffickers, "giving permission" in exchange for a pitifully small bit of cash, and some just flat-out give their children away because they can't afford to feed them. This is EXACTLY what the prime minister's order was intended to prevent an exponential increase in, due to the effects of the earthquake. And anyway, I don't think it was ever legal for anyone to remove a child from the country without a passport, even before the earthquake.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

apparently, after they were made to give up the first batch of kids they had kidnapped, the Baptists asked the kids to give back the stuffed toys they had given them.

Aaarrgghhhh! If that's true, I want Laura Silsby executed and STUFFED, and put on display in a Haitian museum as an example of what happens to child traffickers. A long stint in a Haitian jail just isn't sufficient punishment.

That is just beyond despicable, but perfectly believable. She was using toys, stuffed animals, etc, as BAIT to lure these children in and convince their parents or caretakers to hand them over. She wasn't going to let them keep the bait if she didn't get to keep them, because then she wouldn't have had enough bait to round up another busload of children.

 

[pinkpuddytat]

I wonder how they've impacted the charitable donations? It can't be a positive impact, IMO.

I'm not sure about that. It's possible that they've actually had a *good* effect on donations, by making people a lot more careful about what group they donate to. Some lesser-known but perfectly legitimate groups may have had their donations reduced by this, but quite possibly the money simply went to larger, better-known groups rather than being completely withheld. While I'm not a fan of the highly politicized American Red Cross or any United Nations related "charity", better that people's donations should go to those groups than to flat-out frauds like Silsby's (or others who are neither going to Haiti nor forwarding funds to anyone legitimately working there).

 

[pinkpuddytat]

Because, that is the 'Mission'. Save the Pagan Babies. She should have called her organization that.

Actually I don't think that was Silsby's motivation at all -- I think her only mission was "Make Money for Me". Probably Coulter too. As for the rest of the group, I think "Save the Pagan Babies" is probably an accurate description of how they saw their mission.

 

[Missizzy]

I'd like to add the word "luring" to my list of despicable terms related to human trafficking and kidnapping. You lure a child into a van to abuse them with a stuffed animal. You lure a child away from a parent with empty promises. Silsby did the very same thing IMO, she doesn't didn't get the opportunity to carry out whatever sick plan she's cooked up.

And to take back a toy from a devastated child. It just doesn't get much lower than that.

 

[truckbomb]

Anderson Cooper 360 Review

http://andersoncooper360review.blogspot.com/

But Karl also finds a boy who was forced onto the bus by his father. He didn't even know where he was going. An attorney for the group states he was not aware of this attempt to take children. Following Karl's piece, Anderson tells us that the little boy forced on the bus had been given toys by the Americans, but once the scheme failed, they actually asked for the toys back. How very Christian of them.


Looks to Ol' Truck that the missionaries needed the toys for more trolling.

 

[truckbomb]

From PINK
I'd want to know more details of what went on when this first attempt to leave with 40 children was intercepted, before I'd conclude the other 8 "became part of the conspiracy" Fair Point


Let's discuss the volunteers, what they knew + when they knew it. Start with an undisputed fact, Silsby and her group has just rounded up 40 children and put them on a bus. The group knows from their own flyers and the original call from their "Messiah" that they are in Haiti to collect orphans. Instead, they are now collecting children from parents. The police officer stops the group and orders the children off the bus.

Even if the volunteers never heard a word between the officer and Silsby, they have very good reason to believe that something is very, very wrong with this mission. They don't ask questions of their Messiah? A law enforcement officer has just stopped them in their tracks, emptied their bus and the Messiah explains to them, What? And they go on to the next roundup? Hello