Ten American Baptists who tried to take orphans out of the country will appear in court to learn whether they face child trafficking charges.
The members of a church group from Idaho attempted to take 33 Haitian children to an orphanage being built in the Dominican Republic without official authorisation.
The five men and five women were stopped with the children, aged between two months and 14 years, at a border crossing on Friday and are due to appear in court on Monday.
It emerged on Sunday that most of the 33 children have family members that survived the Jan 12 earthquake.
Patricia Vargas, regional director of the SOS Children’s Village, where the children are being cared for, told the AFP news agency officials at the Haitian Institute of Social Welfare told her „most of the kids have family”.
Miss Vargas said some of the older children of the group had confirmed the officials’ words. Children over the age of seven said that „their parents are alive, and some of them gave us an address and phone numbers,” she said.
The US embassy in Haiti said on Sunday that ten US citizens were being held for „alleged violations of Haitian laws related to immigration”.
A spokesman for the church group said it had nothing but the best of intentions for the children, wanting to give them a better life.
Just for clarification, these Baptists from the United States were Southern Baptists. I am pretty sure you used „American Baptists” in a geographical rather than a denominational sense, but I thought it important to mention this for clarity.
RIGHT!
The news appears as it is on Telegraph.co.uk. It is mentioned on the top of the picture. Here in Romania we have just „Baptists”. Sorry for the inconvenience!
telegraph.co.uk:
US Baptists charged with kidnapping Haitian children
Ten Americans held for trying to leave Haiti with 33 children were charged with child kidnapping and criminal association.
Rather than have an open trial, an investigative judge will consider the evidence but could take up to three months to reach a verdict, said Edwin Coq, the group’s Haitian lawyer.
The charges carry prison sentences of up to 15 years and were announced after prosecutors questioned the Americans during a private meeting in Port-au-Prince.