Don't those prosecutors know those kind Baptists from Idaho are just
trying to help humanity in Jesus Christ's name?

That the kids were being fitted for little white hoods should have no
bearing on whether they were being kidnapped.

On 2/4/10 3:58 PM, jps wrote:

Don't those prosecutors know those kind Baptists from Idaho are just
trying to help humanity in Jesus Christ's name?

That the kids were being fitted for little white hoods should have no
bearing on whether they were being kidnapped.


Details, please...


Attorney: 10 US Baptists charged with child kidnap

The Associated Press
3:50 p.m. Thursday, February 4, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Ten members of a U.S. missionary group who said
they were trying to rescue 33 child victims of Haiti's devastating
earthquake were charged with child kidnapping and criminal association
on Thursday, their lawyer said.

Edwin Coq said after a court hearing that a judge found sufficient
evidence to charge the Americans, who were arrested Friday at Haiti's
border with the Dominican Republic. Coq attended Thursday's hearing and
represents the entire group in Haiti.

Group leader Laura Silsby has said they were trying to take orphans and
abandoned children to an orphanage in the neighboring Dominican
Republic. She acknowledged they had not sought permission from Haitian
officials, but said they just meant to help victims of the quake.

The children taken from the group, ranging in age from 2 to 12, were
being cared for at the Austrian-run SOS Children's Village in
Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.

The U.S. citizens, most of them members of an Idaho-based church group,
were whisked away from the closed court hearing to jail in
Port-au-Prince, the capital. Silsby waved and smiled faintly to
reporters but declined to answer questions.

Coq said that under Haiti's legal system, there won't be an open trial,
but a judge will consider the evidence and could render a verdict in
about three months.

Coq said a Haitian prosecutor told him the Americans were charged
because they had the children in their possession. No one from the
Haitian government could be reached immediately for comment.

Each kidnapping count carries a possible sentence of five to 15 years in
prison. Each criminal association count has a potential sentence of
three to nine years.

Coq said that nine of the 10 knew nothing about the alleged scheme, or
that paperwork for the children was not in order.

"I'm going to do everything I can to get the nine out," Coq said. That
would still leave mission leader Laura Silsby facing charges.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington the U.S. was
open to discuss "other legal avenues" for the defendants — an apparent
reference to the Haitian prime minister's earlier suggestion that Haiti
could consider sending the Americans back to the United States for
prosecution.

Several parents of the children in Callebas, a quake-wracked Haitian
village near the capital, told The Associated Press Wednesday they had
handed over their children willingly because they were unable to feed or
clothe their children and the American missionaries promised to give
them a better life.

Their accounts contradicted statements by Silsby, of Meridian, Idaho.

In a jailhouse interview Saturday, Silsby told the AP that most of the
children had been delivered to the Americans by distant relatives, while
some came from orphanages that had collapsed in the quake.

"They are very precious kids that have lost their homes and families and
are so deeply in need of, most of all, God's love and his compassion,"
she said.

In Callebas, parents said a local orphanage worker, fluent in English
and acting on behalf of the Baptists, had convened nearly the entire
village of 500 people on a dirt soccer field to present the Americans'
offer.

Isaac Adrien, 20, told his neighbors the missionaries would educate
their children in the neighboring Dominican Republic, the villagers
said, adding that they were also assured they would be free to visit
their children there.

Many parents jumped at the offer.

Adrien said he met Silsby in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 26. She told him she
was looking for homeless children, he said, and he knew exactly where to
find them.

He rushed home to Callebas, where people scrape by growing carrots,
peppers and onions. That very day, he had a list of 20 children.

As they loaded children onto a bus in Callebas on Jan. 28, the Americans
took down contact information for all the families and assured them a
relative would be able to visit them in the Dominican Republic.

The Americans' journey began last summer after Silsby and her former
nanny, 24-year-old Charisa Coulter, resolved to establish an orphanage
for Haitian children in the Dominican Republic. Coulter is among the
jailed Americans.

They began buying up used clothing and collecting donations from their
Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian and in November, Silsby
registered the New Life Children's Refuge Inc., the nonprofit
organization coordinating the rescue mission. It listed the address of
her now-foreclosed home in Meridian as its headquarters.

Then the quake hit. Silsby and Coulter moved into high gear, gathering
donations and assembling a team to go into Haiti and urgently take out
children, the younger woman's father, Mel Coulter, told the AP from his
home in Kuna, Idaho.

The group packed 40 plastic bins of donated goods into a U-Haul trailer
and drove to Salt Lake City on Jan. 22, where they took a flight to the
Dominican Republic. They made their way to Haiti, where four days later,
they were introduced to Adrien.

Adrien, who had served as the go-between and translator for the
missionaries, said he had no knowledge of the group's larger plans;
villagers said they were told none of their children would be offered
for adoption.

A Haitian-born pastor who said he worked as an unpaid consultant for the
group insisted the Baptists had done nothing wrong.

The Rev. Jean Sainvil said some of the children were orphans and might
have been put up for adoption. Children with parents were to be kept in
the Dominican Republic, and would not lose contact with their families,
Sainvil said in Atlanta.

"Everybody agreed that they knew where the children were going. The
parents were told, and we confirmed they would be allowed to see the
children and even take them back if need be," he said.

Sainvil stressed that in Haiti it is not uncommon for parents who can't
support their children to send them to orphanages.

Even Prime Minister Max Bellerive has said he recognized the Americans
may simply have been well-meaning who believed their charitable
Christian intent justified trying to remove the children from
quake-crippled Haiti.

Only minutes before the charges, the Americans' Dominican lawyer, Jorge
Puello, had said he expected at least nine of the 10 to be released and
said he was arranging a charter flight for them from Santo Domingo, the
Dominican capital.

After the Haitian lawyer's announcement, Puello could not be reached by
telephone for comment.

"I'm at the airport (in Santo Domingo) and we're getting the plane
ready. We're just waiting for the green light," Puello said. "I spoke to
a source inside the jail — a government official — who said nine would
be released but one would be held for further investigation."

___

Throw the book at these crazy fundies, and lock 'em up for a couple of
decades. If they had a "charitable christian intent," they'd be handing
out food, medicines, and toiletries to the suffering haitians, not
stealing haitian children.

jps wrote:
Don't those prosecutors know those kind Baptists from Idaho are just
trying to help humanity in Jesus Christ's name?

That the kids were being fitted for little white hoods should have no
bearing on whether they were being kidnapped.
Where did you read that the Arian nation was kidnapping kids?
My newspaper must be out of date.
May be it was Wiccans?

Harry wrote:
On 2/4/10 3:58 PM, jps wrote:

Don't those prosecutors know those kind Baptists from Idaho are just
trying to help humanity in Jesus Christ's name?

That the kids were being fitted for little white hoods should have no
bearing on whether they were being kidnapped.


Details, please...


Attorney: 10 US Baptists charged with child kidnap

The Associated Press
3:50 p.m. Thursday, February 4, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti ? Ten members of a U.S. missionary group who said
they were trying to rescue 33 child victims of Haiti's devastating
earthquake were charged with child kidnapping and criminal association
on Thursday, their lawyer said.

Edwin Coq said after a court hearing that a judge found sufficient
evidence to charge the Americans, who were arrested Friday at Haiti's
border with the Dominican Republic. Coq attended Thursday's hearing and
represents the entire group in Haiti.

Group leader Laura Silsby has said they were trying to take orphans and
abandoned children to an orphanage in the neighboring Dominican
Republic. She acknowledged they had not sought permission from Haitian
officials, but said they just meant to help victims of the quake.

The children taken from the group, ranging in age from 2 to 12, were
being cared for at the Austrian-run SOS Children's Village in
Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.

The U.S. citizens, most of them members of an Idaho-based church group,
were whisked away from the closed court hearing to jail in
Port-au-Prince, the capital. Silsby waved and smiled faintly to
reporters but declined to answer questions.

Coq said that under Haiti's legal system, there won't be an open trial,
but a judge will consider the evidence and could render a verdict in
about three months.

Coq said a Haitian prosecutor told him the Americans were charged
because they had the children in their possession. No one from the
Haitian government could be reached immediately for comment.

Each kidnapping count carries a possible sentence of five to 15 years in
prison. Each criminal association count has a potential sentence of
three to nine years.

Coq said that nine of the 10 knew nothing about the alleged scheme, or
that paperwork for the children was not in order.

"I'm going to do everything I can to get the nine out," Coq said. That
would still leave mission leader Laura Silsby facing charges.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington the U.S. was
open to discuss "other legal avenues" for the defendants ? an apparent
reference to the Haitian prime minister's earlier suggestion that Haiti
could consider sending the Americans back to the United States for
prosecution.

Several parents of the children in Callebas, a quake-wracked Haitian
village near the capital, told The Associated Press Wednesday they had
handed over their children willingly because they were unable to feed or
clothe their children and the American missionaries promised to give
them a better life.

Their accounts contradicted statements by Silsby, of Meridian, Idaho.

In a jailhouse interview Saturday, Silsby told the AP that most of the
children had been delivered to the Americans by distant relatives, while
some came from orphanages that had collapsed in the quake.

"They are very precious kids that have lost their homes and families and
are so deeply in need of, most of all, God's love and his compassion,"
she said.

In Callebas, parents said a local orphanage worker, fluent in English
and acting on behalf of the Baptists, had convened nearly the entire
village of 500 people on a dirt soccer field to present the Americans'
offer.

Isaac Adrien, 20, told his neighbors the missionaries would educate
their children in the neighboring Dominican Republic, the villagers
said, adding that they were also assured they would be free to visit
their children there.

Many parents jumped at the offer.

Adrien said he met Silsby in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 26. She told him she
was looking for homeless children, he said, and he knew exactly where to
find them.

He rushed home to Callebas, where people scrape by growing carrots,
peppers and onions. That very day, he had a list of 20 children.

As they loaded children onto a bus in Callebas on Jan. 28, the Americans
took down contact information for all the families and assured them a
relative would be able to visit them in the Dominican Republic.

The Americans' journey began last summer after Silsby and her former
nanny, 24-year-old Charisa Coulter, resolved to establish an orphanage
for Haitian children in the Dominican Republic. Coulter is among the
jailed Americans.

They began buying up used clothing and collecting donations from their
Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian and in November, Silsby
registered the New Life Children's Refuge Inc., the nonprofit
organization coordinating the rescue mission. It listed the address of
her now-foreclosed home in Meridian as its headquarters.

Then the quake hit. Silsby and Coulter moved into high gear, gathering
donations and assembling a team to go into Haiti and urgently take out
children, the younger woman's father, Mel Coulter, told the AP from his
home in Kuna, Idaho.

The group packed 40 plastic bins of donated goods into a U-Haul trailer
and drove to Salt Lake City on Jan. 22, where they took a flight to the
Dominican Republic. They made their way to Haiti, where four days later,
they were introduced to Adrien.

Adrien, who had served as the go-between and translator for the
missionaries, said he had no knowledge of the group's larger plans;
villagers said they were told none of their children would be offered
for adoption.

A Haitian-born pastor who said he worked as an unpaid consultant for the
group insisted the Baptists had done nothing wrong.

The Rev. Jean Sainvil said some of the children were orphans and might
have been put up for adoption. Children with parents were to be kept in
the Dominican Republic, and would not lose contact with their families,
Sainvil said in Atlanta.

"Everybody agreed that they knew where the children were going. The
parents were told, and we confirmed they would be allowed to see the
children and even take them back if need be," he said.

Sainvil stressed that in Haiti it is not uncommon for parents who can't
support their children to send them to orphanages.

Even Prime Minister Max Bellerive has said he recognized the Americans
may simply have been well-meaning who believed their charitable
Christian intent justified trying to remove the children from
quake-crippled Haiti.

Only minutes before the charges, the Americans' Dominican lawyer, Jorge
Puello, had said he expected at least nine of the 10 to be released and
said he was arranging a charter flight for them from Santo Domingo, the
Dominican capital.

After the Haitian lawyer's announcement, Puello could not be reached by
telephone for comment.

"I'm at the airport (in Santo Domingo) and we're getting the plane
ready. We're just waiting for the green light," Puello said. "I spoke to
a source inside the jail ? a government official ? who said nine would
be released but one would be held for further investigation."

___

Throw the book at these crazy fundies, and lock 'em up for a couple of
decades. If they had a "charitable christian intent," they'd be handing
out food, medicines, and toiletries to the suffering haitians, not
stealing haitian children.

Just a bunch of well meaning but amateurs.

On 2/4/10 4:50 PM, lil abner wrote:
jps wrote:
Don't those prosecutors know those kind Baptists from Idaho are just
trying to help humanity in Jesus Christ's name?

That the kids were being fitted for little white hoods should have no
bearing on whether they were being kidnapped.
Where did you read that the Arian nation was kidnapping kids?
My newspaper must be out of date.
May be it was Wiccans?


Uh, who do you think attends klan meetings? Mostly white christians.
They "proclaim" themselves as members of the klan, organizations that
supposedly promote the goals of white christians. As in, no jews or
catholics are welcome. Most reputable christians have nothing to do with
the klan, of course, but that doesn't prevent the klan's members from
claiming to be christians promoting christianity.

lil abner wrote:
Harry wrote:
On 2/4/10 3:58 PM, jps wrote:

Don't those prosecutors know those kind Baptists from Idaho are just
trying to help humanity in Jesus Christ's name?

That the kids were being fitted for little white hoods should have no
bearing on whether they were being kidnapped.


Details, please...


Attorney: 10 US Baptists charged with child kidnap

The Associated Press
3:50 p.m. Thursday, February 4, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti ? Ten members of a U.S. missionary group who
said they were trying to rescue 33 child victims of Haiti's
devastating earthquake were charged with child kidnapping and criminal
association on Thursday, their lawyer said.

Edwin Coq said after a court hearing that a judge found sufficient
evidence to charge the Americans, who were arrested Friday at Haiti's
border with the Dominican Republic. Coq attended Thursday's hearing
and represents the entire group in Haiti.

Group leader Laura Silsby has said they were trying to take orphans
and abandoned children to an orphanage in the neighboring Dominican
Republic. She acknowledged they had not sought permission from Haitian
officials, but said they just meant to help victims of the quake.

The children taken from the group, ranging in age from 2 to 12, were
being cared for at the Austrian-run SOS Children's Village in
Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.

The U.S. citizens, most of them members of an Idaho-based church
group, were whisked away from the closed court hearing to jail in
Port-au-Prince, the capital. Silsby waved and smiled faintly to
reporters but declined to answer questions.

Coq said that under Haiti's legal system, there won't be an open
trial, but a judge will consider the evidence and could render a
verdict in about three months.

Coq said a Haitian prosecutor told him the Americans were charged
because they had the children in their possession. No one from the
Haitian government could be reached immediately for comment.

Each kidnapping count carries a possible sentence of five to 15 years
in prison. Each criminal association count has a potential sentence of
three to nine years.

Coq said that nine of the 10 knew nothing about the alleged scheme, or
that paperwork for the children was not in order.

"I'm going to do everything I can to get the nine out," Coq said. That
would still leave mission leader Laura Silsby facing charges.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington the U.S.
was open to discuss "other legal avenues" for the defendants ? an
apparent reference to the Haitian prime minister's earlier suggestion
that Haiti could consider sending the Americans back to the United
States for prosecution.

Several parents of the children in Callebas, a quake-wracked Haitian
village near the capital, told The Associated Press Wednesday they had
handed over their children willingly because they were unable to feed
or clothe their children and the American missionaries promised to
give them a better life.

Their accounts contradicted statements by Silsby, of Meridian, Idaho.

In a jailhouse interview Saturday, Silsby told the AP that most of the
children had been delivered to the Americans by distant relatives,
while some came from orphanages that had collapsed in the quake.

"They are very precious kids that have lost their homes and families
and are so deeply in need of, most of all, God's love and his
compassion," she said.

In Callebas, parents said a local orphanage worker, fluent in English
and acting on behalf of the Baptists, had convened nearly the entire
village of 500 people on a dirt soccer field to present the Americans'
offer.

Isaac Adrien, 20, told his neighbors the missionaries would educate
their children in the neighboring Dominican Republic, the villagers
said, adding that they were also assured they would be free to visit
their children there.

Many parents jumped at the offer.

Adrien said he met Silsby in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 26. She told him
she was looking for homeless children, he said, and he knew exactly
where to find them.

He rushed home to Callebas, where people scrape by growing carrots,
peppers and onions. That very day, he had a list of 20 children.

As they loaded children onto a bus in Callebas on Jan. 28, the
Americans took down contact information for all the families and
assured them a relative would be able to visit them in the Dominican
Republic.

The Americans' journey began last summer after Silsby and her former
nanny, 24-year-old Charisa Coulter, resolved to establish an orphanage
for Haitian children in the Dominican Republic. Coulter is among the
jailed Americans.

They began buying up used clothing and collecting donations from their
Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian and in November, Silsby
registered the New Life Children's Refuge Inc., the nonprofit
organization coordinating the rescue mission. It listed the address of
her now-foreclosed home in Meridian as its headquarters.

Then the quake hit. Silsby and Coulter moved into high gear, gathering
donations and assembling a team to go into Haiti and urgently take out
children, the younger woman's father, Mel Coulter, told the AP from
his home in Kuna, Idaho.

The group packed 40 plastic bins of donated goods into a U-Haul
trailer and drove to Salt Lake City on Jan. 22, where they took a
flight to the Dominican Republic. They made their way to Haiti, where
four days later, they were introduced to Adrien.

Adrien, who had served as the go-between and translator for the
missionaries, said he had no knowledge of the group's larger plans;
villagers said they were told none of their children would be offered
for adoption.

A Haitian-born pastor who said he worked as an unpaid consultant for
the group insisted the Baptists had done nothing wrong.

The Rev. Jean Sainvil said some of the children were orphans and might
have been put up for adoption. Children with parents were to be kept
in the Dominican Republic, and would not lose contact with their
families, Sainvil said in Atlanta.

"Everybody agreed that they knew where the children were going. The
parents were told, and we confirmed they would be allowed to see the
children and even take them back if need be," he said.

Sainvil stressed that in Haiti it is not uncommon for parents who
can't support their children to send them to orphanages.

Even Prime Minister Max Bellerive has said he recognized the Americans
may simply have been well-meaning who believed their charitable
Christian intent justified trying to remove the children from
quake-crippled Haiti.

Only minutes before the charges, the Americans' Dominican lawyer,
Jorge Puello, had said he expected at least nine of the 10 to be
released and said he was arranging a charter flight for them from
Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital.

After the Haitian lawyer's announcement, Puello could not be reached
by telephone for comment.

"I'm at the airport (in Santo Domingo) and we're getting the plane
ready. We're just waiting for the green light," Puello said. "I spoke
to a source inside the jail ? a government official ? who said nine
would be released but one would be held for further investigation."

___

Throw the book at these crazy fundies, and lock 'em up for a couple of
decades. If they had a "charitable christian intent," they'd be
handing out food, medicines, and toiletries to the suffering haitians,
not stealing haitian children.

Just a bunch of well meaning but amateurs.

Looks like they were trying to keep some poor kids from starving, maybe
get them some education and some steps past life's starting line.
Didn't follow the law though.
I expect they'll get cut loose.

On 2/4/10 4:51 PM, lil abner wrote:
Harry wrote:
On 2/4/10 3:58 PM, jps wrote:

Don't those prosecutors know those kind Baptists from Idaho are just
trying to help humanity in Jesus Christ's name?

That the kids were being fitted for little white hoods should have no
bearing on whether they were being kidnapped.


Details, please...


Attorney: 10 US Baptists charged with child kidnap

The Associated Press
3:50 p.m. Thursday, February 4, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti ? Ten members of a U.S. missionary group who
said they were trying to rescue 33 child victims of Haiti's
devastating earthquake were charged with child kidnapping and criminal
association on Thursday, their lawyer said.

Edwin Coq said after a court hearing that a judge found sufficient
evidence to charge the Americans, who were arrested Friday at Haiti's
border with the Dominican Republic. Coq attended Thursday's hearing
and represents the entire group in Haiti.

Group leader Laura Silsby has said they were trying to take orphans
and abandoned children to an orphanage in the neighboring Dominican
Republic. She acknowledged they had not sought permission from Haitian
officials, but said they just meant to help victims of the quake.

The children taken from the group, ranging in age from 2 to 12, were
being cared for at the Austrian-run SOS Children's Village in
Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.

The U.S. citizens, most of them members of an Idaho-based church
group, were whisked away from the closed court hearing to jail in
Port-au-Prince, the capital. Silsby waved and smiled faintly to
reporters but declined to answer questions.

Coq said that under Haiti's legal system, there won't be an open
trial, but a judge will consider the evidence and could render a
verdict in about three months.

Coq said a Haitian prosecutor told him the Americans were charged
because they had the children in their possession. No one from the
Haitian government could be reached immediately for comment.

Each kidnapping count carries a possible sentence of five to 15 years
in prison. Each criminal association count has a potential sentence of
three to nine years.

Coq said that nine of the 10 knew nothing about the alleged scheme, or
that paperwork for the children was not in order.

"I'm going to do everything I can to get the nine out," Coq said. That
would still leave mission leader Laura Silsby facing charges.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington the U.S.
was open to discuss "other legal avenues" for the defendants ? an
apparent reference to the Haitian prime minister's earlier suggestion
that Haiti could consider sending the Americans back to the United
States for prosecution.

Several parents of the children in Callebas, a quake-wracked Haitian
village near the capital, told The Associated Press Wednesday they had
handed over their children willingly because they were unable to feed
or clothe their children and the American missionaries promised to
give them a better life.

Their accounts contradicted statements by Silsby, of Meridian, Idaho.

In a jailhouse interview Saturday, Silsby told the AP that most of the
children had been delivered to the Americans by distant relatives,
while some came from orphanages that had collapsed in the quake.

"They are very precious kids that have lost their homes and families
and are so deeply in need of, most of all, God's love and his
compassion," she said.

In Callebas, parents said a local orphanage worker, fluent in English
and acting on behalf of the Baptists, had convened nearly the entire
village of 500 people on a dirt soccer field to present the Americans'
offer.

Isaac Adrien, 20, told his neighbors the missionaries would educate
their children in the neighboring Dominican Republic, the villagers
said, adding that they were also assured they would be free to visit
their children there.

Many parents jumped at the offer.

Adrien said he met Silsby in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 26. She told him
she was looking for homeless children, he said, and he knew exactly
where to find them.

He rushed home to Callebas, where people scrape by growing carrots,
peppers and onions. That very day, he had a list of 20 children.

As they loaded children onto a bus in Callebas on Jan. 28, the
Americans took down contact information for all the families and
assured them a relative would be able to visit them in the Dominican
Republic.

The Americans' journey began last summer after Silsby and her former
nanny, 24-year-old Charisa Coulter, resolved to establish an orphanage
for Haitian children in the Dominican Republic. Coulter is among the
jailed Americans.

They began buying up used clothing and collecting donations from their
Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian and in November, Silsby
registered the New Life Children's Refuge Inc., the nonprofit
organization coordinating the rescue mission. It listed the address of
her now-foreclosed home in Meridian as its headquarters.

Then the quake hit. Silsby and Coulter moved into high gear, gathering
donations and assembling a team to go into Haiti and urgently take out
children, the younger woman's father, Mel Coulter, told the AP from
his home in Kuna, Idaho.

The group packed 40 plastic bins of donated goods into a U-Haul
trailer and drove to Salt Lake City on Jan. 22, where they took a
flight to the Dominican Republic. They made their way to Haiti, where
four days later, they were introduced to Adrien.

Adrien, who had served as the go-between and translator for the
missionaries, said he had no knowledge of the group's larger plans;
villagers said they were told none of their children would be offered
for adoption.

A Haitian-born pastor who said he worked as an unpaid consultant for
the group insisted the Baptists had done nothing wrong.

The Rev. Jean Sainvil said some of the children were orphans and might
have been put up for adoption. Children with parents were to be kept
in the Dominican Republic, and would not lose contact with their
families, Sainvil said in Atlanta.

"Everybody agreed that they knew where the children were going. The
parents were told, and we confirmed they would be allowed to see the
children and even take them back if need be," he said.

Sainvil stressed that in Haiti it is not uncommon for parents who
can't support their children to send them to orphanages.

Even Prime Minister Max Bellerive has said he recognized the Americans
may simply have been well-meaning who believed their charitable
Christian intent justified trying to remove the children from
quake-crippled Haiti.

Only minutes before the charges, the Americans' Dominican lawyer,
Jorge Puello, had said he expected at least nine of the 10 to be
released and said he was arranging a charter flight for them from
Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital.

After the Haitian lawyer's announcement, Puello could not be reached
by telephone for comment.

"I'm at the airport (in Santo Domingo) and we're getting the plane
ready. We're just waiting for the green light," Puello said. "I spoke
to a source inside the jail ? a government official ? who said nine
would be released but one would be held for further investigation."

___

Throw the book at these crazy fundies, and lock 'em up for a couple of
decades. If they had a "charitable christian intent," they'd be
handing out food, medicines, and toiletries to the suffering haitians,
not stealing haitian children.

Just a bunch of well meaning but amateurs.


People who steal children are "well-meaning"?

Harry wrote:
On 2/4/10 4:51 PM, lil abner wrote:
Harry wrote:
On 2/4/10 3:58 PM, jps wrote:

Don't those prosecutors know those kind Baptists from Idaho are just
trying to help humanity in Jesus Christ's name?

That the kids were being fitted for little white hoods should have no
bearing on whether they were being kidnapped.


Details, please...


Attorney: 10 US Baptists charged with child kidnap

The Associated Press
3:50 p.m. Thursday, February 4, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti ? Ten members of a U.S. missionary group who
said they were trying to rescue 33 child victims of Haiti's
devastating earthquake were charged with child kidnapping and criminal
association on Thursday, their lawyer said.

Edwin Coq said after a court hearing that a judge found sufficient
evidence to charge the Americans, who were arrested Friday at Haiti's
border with the Dominican Republic. Coq attended Thursday's hearing
and represents the entire group in Haiti.

Group leader Laura Silsby has said they were trying to take orphans
and abandoned children to an orphanage in the neighboring Dominican
Republic. She acknowledged they had not sought permission from Haitian
officials, but said they just meant to help victims of the quake.

The children taken from the group, ranging in age from 2 to 12, were
being cared for at the Austrian-run SOS Children's Village in
Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.

The U.S. citizens, most of them members of an Idaho-based church
group, were whisked away from the closed court hearing to jail in
Port-au-Prince, the capital. Silsby waved and smiled faintly to
reporters but declined to answer questions.

Coq said that under Haiti's legal system, there won't be an open
trial, but a judge will consider the evidence and could render a
verdict in about three months.

Coq said a Haitian prosecutor told him the Americans were charged
because they had the children in their possession. No one from the
Haitian government could be reached immediately for comment.

Each kidnapping count carries a possible sentence of five to 15 years
in prison. Each criminal association count has a potential sentence of
three to nine years.

Coq said that nine of the 10 knew nothing about the alleged scheme, or
that paperwork for the children was not in order.

"I'm going to do everything I can to get the nine out," Coq said. That
would still leave mission leader Laura Silsby facing charges.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington the U.S.
was open to discuss "other legal avenues" for the defendants ? an
apparent reference to the Haitian prime minister's earlier suggestion
that Haiti could consider sending the Americans back to the United
States for prosecution.

Several parents of the children in Callebas, a quake-wracked Haitian
village near the capital, told The Associated Press Wednesday they had
handed over their children willingly because they were unable to feed
or clothe their children and the American missionaries promised to
give them a better life.

Their accounts contradicted statements by Silsby, of Meridian, Idaho.

In a jailhouse interview Saturday, Silsby told the AP that most of the
children had been delivered to the Americans by distant relatives,
while some came from orphanages that had collapsed in the quake.

"They are very precious kids that have lost their homes and families
and are so deeply in need of, most of all, God's love and his
compassion," she said.

In Callebas, parents said a local orphanage worker, fluent in English
and acting on behalf of the Baptists, had convened nearly the entire
village of 500 people on a dirt soccer field to present the Americans'
offer.

Isaac Adrien, 20, told his neighbors the missionaries would educate
their children in the neighboring Dominican Republic, the villagers
said, adding that they were also assured they would be free to visit
their children there.

Many parents jumped at the offer.

Adrien said he met Silsby in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 26. She told him
she was looking for homeless children, he said, and he knew exactly
where to find them.

He rushed home to Callebas, where people scrape by growing carrots,
peppers and onions. That very day, he had a list of 20 children.

As they loaded children onto a bus in Callebas on Jan. 28, the
Americans took down contact information for all the families and
assured them a relative would be able to visit them in the Dominican
Republic.

The Americans' journey began last summer after Silsby and her former
nanny, 24-year-old Charisa Coulter, resolved to establish an orphanage
for Haitian children in the Dominican Republic. Coulter is among the
jailed Americans.

They began buying up used clothing and collecting donations from their
Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian and in November, Silsby
registered the New Life Children's Refuge Inc., the nonprofit
organization coordinating the rescue mission. It listed the address of
her now-foreclosed home in Meridian as its headquarters.

Then the quake hit. Silsby and Coulter moved into high gear, gathering
donations and assembling a team to go into Haiti and urgently take out
children, the younger woman's father, Mel Coulter, told the AP from
his home in Kuna, Idaho.

The group packed 40 plastic bins of donated goods into a U-Haul
trailer and drove to Salt Lake City on Jan. 22, where they took a
flight to the Dominican Republic. They made their way to Haiti, where
four days later, they were introduced to Adrien.

Adrien, who had served as the go-between and translator for the
missionaries, said he had no knowledge of the group's larger plans;
villagers said they were told none of their children would be offered
for adoption.

A Haitian-born pastor who said he worked as an unpaid consultant for
the group insisted the Baptists had done nothing wrong.

The Rev. Jean Sainvil said some of the children were orphans and might
have been put up for adoption. Children with parents were to be kept
in the Dominican Republic, and would not lose contact with their
families, Sainvil said in Atlanta.

"Everybody agreed that they knew where the children were going. The
parents were told, and we confirmed they would be allowed to see the
children and even take them back if need be," he said.

Sainvil stressed that in Haiti it is not uncommon for parents who
can't support their children to send them to orphanages.

Even Prime Minister Max Bellerive has said he recognized the Americans
may simply have been well-meaning who believed their charitable
Christian intent justified trying to remove the children from
quake-crippled Haiti.

Only minutes before the charges, the Americans' Dominican lawyer,
Jorge Puello, had said he expected at least nine of the 10 to be
released and said he was arranging a charter flight for them from
Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital.

After the Haitian lawyer's announcement, Puello could not be reached
by telephone for comment.

"I'm at the airport (in Santo Domingo) and we're getting the plane
ready. We're just waiting for the green light," Puello said. "I spoke
to a source inside the jail ? a government official ? who said nine
would be released but one would be held for further investigation."

___

Throw the book at these crazy fundies, and lock 'em up for a couple of
decades. If they had a "charitable christian intent," they'd be
handing out food, medicines, and toiletries to the suffering haitians,
not stealing haitian children.

Just a bunch of well meaning but amateurs.


People who steal children are "well-meaning"?


Wacko tin hat talk.

Harry wrote:
On 2/4/10 4:50 PM, lil abner wrote:
jps wrote:
Don't those prosecutors know those kind Baptists from Idaho are just
trying to help humanity in Jesus Christ's name?

That the kids were being fitted for little white hoods should have no
bearing on whether they were being kidnapped.
Where did you read that the Arian nation was kidnapping kids?
My newspaper must be out of date.
May be it was Wiccans?


Uh, who do you think attends klan meetings? Mostly white christians.
They "proclaim" themselves as members of the klan, organizations that
supposedly promote the goals of white christians. As in, no jews or
catholics are welcome. Most reputable christians have nothing to do with
the klan, of course, but that doesn't prevent the klan's members from
claiming to be christians promoting christianity.


You gotta get out more Dude. Go to a Church.
It isn't a clan or terrorist hot spot.
Christianity is what founded this nation. Christianity is this Nation.
Not all that took the name were in fact Christian.
We don't do mosque and follow the Koran.

lil abner wrote:
Harry wrote:
On 2/4/10 4:50 PM, lil abner wrote:
jps wrote:
Don't those prosecutors know those kind Baptists from Idaho are just
trying to help humanity in Jesus Christ's name?

That the kids were being fitted for little white hoods should have no
bearing on whether they were being kidnapped.
Where did you read that the Arian nation was kidnapping kids?
My newspaper must be out of date.
May be it was Wiccans?


Uh, who do you think attends klan meetings? Mostly white christians.
They "proclaim" themselves as members of the klan, organizations that
supposedly promote the goals of white christians. As in, no jews or
catholics are welcome. Most reputable christians have nothing to do
with the klan, of course, but that doesn't prevent the klan's members
from claiming to be christians promoting christianity.


You gotta get out more Dude. Go to a Church.
It isn't a clan or terrorist hot spot.
Christianity is what founded this nation. Christianity is this Nation.
Not all that took the name were in fact Christian.
We don't do mosque and follow the Koran.

I get the feeling this Harry feller is a little wacked out, like that
Muslim who shot up the GI's at Fort Hood.
Hope they keep firearms away from him.