Laura Silsby And The Face of White Privilege

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100210/ap_on_re_us…

She enlisted members of her Baptist church and told them she had all the necessary paperwork. She even found a Kentucky couple, Richard and Malinda Pickett, who had been trying to adopt three siblings from Haiti and told them she could get the children out.

The Picketts say they politely declined, figuring the youngsters were safe and would soon be evacuated to their new home.

“My wife told her that under no conditions should she try to move the kids — that would just interfere with our plans. But she called two more times, and the last time she called, on the 25th, she said she was getting on a flight and would like to pick up our kids,” Richard Pickett said. “My wife, for the third time, told her no way — stay away from them.”

A few days later, Silsby and nine other Americans were charged in Haiti with kidnapping for trying to take 33 children out of the country without proper documentation. The 10 defendants remain in jail in Haiti.

The Haitian and U.S. governments are investigating Silsby and her group, trying to determine why they were rounding up children, many of whom were not orphans. Silsby and her supporters say they just wanted to save youngsters from the chaos, disease and uncertainty of quake-ravaged Haiti. Others, like the Picketts, aren’t convinced.

The Picketts said they were immediately suspicious of Silsby. The Kentucky couple didn’t need her help — the government had already given them permission to go pick up the children. But Silsby persisted, they said.

She showed up at the Compassion for All orphanage in Haiti, asking to collect the Picketts’ three adopted children and claiming to be Malinda Pickett’s friend, according to Richard Pickett.

When the orphanage told her the children had been moved, Silsby went on to ask for any other kids she could have, Richard Pickett said. She paid a worker to take her to other orphanages in the region and translate for her.

“She asked for kids at each of the orphanages, and at the end of the day when no one would give her any, she cried,” Richard Pickett said. “Why would you cry after you see these kids are being taken care of?”

OMG! Even after the Picketts told her they didn't need her help, Laura Silsby showed up at the orphanage anyway claiming to be Mrs. Pickett's friend. She's a habitual liar. Was she going to just take the Picketts children? She's a fucking psycho!

…And then she started asking for other kids? When she couldn't get them, she starts crying? OMFG!

Laura Silsby is slap crazy….I mean she is absolutely insane. She shouldn't be allowed to see her own kids without supervision at this rate. The woman is completely gone.

The account from Richard Pickett concerning Silsby's interest in his adopted children is frightening.

Why was Silsby going from orphanage to orphanage to gather children? And what would compel her to lie about the situation with the Pickett's after being told to butt out?

they put the pretty young girl in the front?
” why she doesn't look like a criminal at all”
that was done on purpose

She's a psycho!

Was she just going to up and take the Pickett's children after Mrs Pickett told her to stay away from the kids? I'm telling you, Laura Silsby is dangerous!

Also, I wonder what this was about?

“Richard Pickett said he was recently interviewed by an agent with the Department of Homeland Security who is helping investigate the Silsby case.”

http://www.ktvb.com/home/Idaho-church-organizer...

The MSM has been trying to get these people off from day one. CNN couldn't stop talking about Haitian parents asking people to take their children. See, these “good christian folks” were only trying to help! /snark

[...] Laura Silsby And The Face of White Privilege — Keeping Our Eyes on … Share and Enjoy: [...]

I posted this a week ago on WSY and kept of shut my mouth on this case because I don't know how to be outrage anymore… And it played out accordingly… [its two fold White and American privilege and until every individual faces the truth, this nation will continue to face consequences around the globe for peoples actions, if anything Idaho newspaper commentary indicated people understand the correlation of both these factors]……

I hate to say this but this is what will happen, they will not be tried as it will be that they acted in good faith. The media is already on the case to cover up and justify the actions of these citizens. Next pressure on Obama administration to ensure the charges are dropped. Just watch…

This is the double standard that is inherently American. It is why the Italians prosecuted the American girl for murder because they were sick of the entitlements. People from all over the world would not dare try this on any white american citizen as there will be consequences. The norm is one american life is worth at least 100 “others” life. The double standard of the press, they are not objective rather their inherent behavior is to protect these individuals all because of the name of christianity instead of enabling the process to play out. Patriotism comes into play instead of rule of law. Under American law, not knowing the law is not an excuse for criminal punishment. This is the same way the media behaved in the run up to the Iraq invasion. Nothing surprising

Nothing surprises me anymore. This an example of white entitlement and lack of respecting another [Haiti's] laws, morality or ethics. In America, there are complaints of that outsiders ought to respect American law but America mindset is not to respect other laws. I don't care which side you are on but it is imperative that the judicial process plays itself out, the world is watching as so many are skeptical of US interest in Haiti.

Poverty and lack of hope make people easy targets and preys. If these were really God's people their aim would be to build a shelter in Haiti to house and nurture these children. Instead it was to steal them and pretend you don't know you need adoption papers. But don't worry they will get off and make the TV rounds and will be American heros.

I don't doubt that Haitian parents were asking the 10 to take their children (so that they could be fed and educated in the midst of a natural disaster). The parents did what they did out of love and promises that were given to the parents by the missionaries.

That same reason (parental love) doesn't necessarily transfer to the motives of the missionaries. It is those motives that the Haitian government is charged with investigating and from what media I have read or viewed it appears the government is taking that charge seriously.

I can't help but to cry.

**Tears**

Exactly! What does that mean?

She doesn't, Miranda. Her ex-husband has the children and they are STILL going over visitation, etc.

I'll try and find that article. She is just one massive mess.

Preach…..this is the gospel truth.

We dont need to ask why she was going from orphanage to orphanage anymore….that's just wrong from the get-go. There can be no rational reason at all…she was shopping. Its just that simple. SHE WAS SHOPPING. No different than when I go to the mall to look for a dress.

What else could one call it? It was shopping and when she didn't get what she wanted….she started crying.

Judge postpones wage claim lawsuit against Laura Silsby's Boise company

http://www.idahostatesman.com/earthquake/story/...

Laura Silsby, a Boise business woman who led the group Baptists to Haiti, was due to appear at a hearing in Fourth District Court in Boise Wednesday for a lawsuit filed by former Personal Shopper employee Robin Oliver.

With Silsby still in Haiti, awaiting judgment on whether she and 9 other Americans broke the law in trying to take 33 children across the Dominican Republic border, a judge reset the trial for June 1.

Silsby founded Personal Shopper, then eFunz.com, in 1999. She is listed as president on the company’s last annual report.

Oliver says she’s owed about $22,000 in unpaid wages.

Woman at center of Haiti adoption case owes many in Boise

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/256/story/84192.html

Boisean Brian Johnson says he's on the brink of financial ruin after not being paid for months at a time while working at Personal Shopper Inc., an Internet-based company founded and led by Laura Silsby.

The 43-year-old single father of three says he's on the verge of losing his house due to Personal Shopper's failure to pay him at least once a month, as Idaho labor law requires.

“I had to borrow money from family and friends to go to my mom's funeral,” he said Monday.

He is among the latest to complain about the company, but the problem dates back a decade.

“There were investors that were committed, the money was to be wired. I cannot tell you how many times we heard that, over and over again,” said a former high-level employee who worked for the company in 2000 and asked not to be identified by name.

Tell the truth, aleth. I said something similar, that Silsby would be let free and become a martyr for other whites and the MSM. ***looking at you Fox News.

you tell the sad truth

she was gathering children for $$$$$

Every time, I think about that horrid reality, I could spit nails……..

Rest assured, when KARMA comes to collect from this witch, it isn't going to be pretty.

…And she was going to sell them like animals. It was heartbreaking seeing the image of the little 8 year old girl crying for her mother. No one was comforting her. Imagine what it would have been like for the child if Laura Silsby's plan had been carried out? Too frightening!

CNN Rick Sanchez:

There will be No ruling on detained Americans in Haiti today.

Its just this plain and simple.

Somebody in Homeland Security, after talking to the Picketts, had to make a quick call…..”errrr, not so fast”.

INS is within DHS. Along with a million other services, but INS would be a likely one.

Some official in Haiti got a BIG FAT CHECK TODAY.

HEEEEY Guns3000: “WHYCOME” I've been thinkin' that – - THIS has been LURKIN' in the “DECISION-MAKIN” BACKGROUND!??

'cause – - -IT'S TA-RUTH!!

Tee hee!

I knew immigration was now under DHS but why would they be involved? Do they have any jurisdiction in Haiti or the Dominican Republic? Would their investigation have been about Silsby (leaving the U.S., financial obligations, etc.) or about her attempted transportation of children across the border (to DR)?

NM. I think the answer to my questions may have been answered in the following article from the NYT (read the whole article for another twist concerning the missionaries).

El Salvador Investigates Adviser to Detained Americans in Haiti

~snip~

The judge said he would request assistance from the Department of Homeland Security to look into Mr. Puello’s background. A spokesman for the department said American officials were playing a supporting role in the investigation surrounding the Americans, providing “investigative support as requested.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/world/america...

The latest from the WSJ. It says Judge Saint-Vil didn't make any recommendation concerning the release of the detained Americans.

Haitian Prosecutor Mulls Release of American Missionaries

~snip~

There were conflicting media reports about whether the magistrate handling the case, Bernard Saint-Vil, publicly backed the petition to release the Americans. The Associated Press and Reuters both quoted the judge as saying he would recommend the group's release, and was only waiting for the prosecutor's comments on the case, as is customary under Haitian law.

But Agence France Presse quoted the judge as denying that he had recommended the release, saying it was too soon for him to comment.

Mr. Louis, the prosecutor, said files he received from the magistrate on Thursday didn't contain Mr. Saint-Vil's opinion on the case.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487...

What? So Reuters & the AP just jumped the gun on this?

Good find, Audrey!

Wow! So the Central Valley Baptist Church in Idaho hired a human trafficker to represent the Americans in Haiti? OMG!

How did the church know Jorge Puello?

All this media hype is bait, gather reactions, and see who will buy Silsby's release from Haiti.

OMG – I just went to the Statesman site, someone had posted this.

OMFG~!

This is too much! What else is going on?

OMFG!

Yeah – it's not about INS. There's no reason INS would be involved. There's something else going on.

The NYT article posted is what it's about – it's DHS.

This is scary!

There is definitely something else going on! OMFG!

SG2,

thank you for posting this to me over at JJP.

……………

these people are evil.
don't utter the word CHRISTIAN.

you are THE COMPANY YOU KEEP

and they're keeping it with a suspected HUMAN TRAFFICKER.

this gets more sick, evil, dark, twisted with every story.

who WILLINGLY seeks the advice of a HUMAN TRAFFICKER.

THEY.ARE.EVIL.

and I don't wanna hear no mo' bullshyt excuses for these mofos.

PUT.THEM.UNDER.THE.JAIL!

Adviser to Detained Americans in Haiti Is Investigated

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The police in El Salvador have begun an investigation into whether a man suspected of leading a trafficking ring involving Central American and Caribbean women and girls is also a legal adviser to many of the Americans charged with trying to take 33 children out of Haiti without permission.

When the judge presiding over the Haitian case learned on Thursday of the investigation in El Salvador, he said he would begin his own inquiry of the adviser, a Dominican man who was in the judge’s chambers days before.

The inquiries are the latest twist in a politically charged case that is unfolding in the middle of an earthquake disaster zone. A lawyer for the group has already been dismissed after being accused of trying to offer bribes to get the 10 Americans out of jail.

The adviser, Jorge Puello, said in a telephone interview on Thursday that he had not engaged in any illegal activity in El Salvador and that he had never been in the country. He called it a case of mistaken identity. “I don’t have anything to do with El Salvador,” he said, suggesting that his name was as common in Latin America as John Smith is in the United States.

“There’s a Colombian drug dealer who was arrested with 25 IDs, and one of them had my name,” he said, not elaborating.

“Bring the proof,” he said when pressed about the child-trafficking accusations in the brief interview, which ended when he said he was entering an elevator. Reached later, he became angry and said he had broken no laws.

Full Column:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/world/america...

I posted this on the Friday Open thread, too.

Here are two blogs that have a bit more on Puello. They are worth the read. Also, the BabyLoveChild blog's second entry tells of three more Americans with the group (they came later and were/are in DR).

Who is Jorge Puello?
http://dontadopthaiti.blogspot.com/

NYT- El Salvador Investigates Adviser to Detained Americans in Haiti (Jorge Puello) &
The 3 additional American members (on the Dominican Republic side of the border) of the 10 arrested American missionary scavengers’ team
http://www.babylovechild.org/

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2010/02/12/b...

a State Department spokeperson told RH RealityCheck this afternoon by phone that what happens next will be up to the prosecutor, and that no action is likely to take place for the next three days in any case as Haiti is entering a period of official mourning for the hundreds of thousands killed in the earthquake. An additional briefing by the US Ambassador to Haiti is expected later this afternoon.

Whether the Baptist group will be charged if they are released back to the United States would be up to the Department of Justice.

Mr. Puello has been acting as a spokesman and legal adviser for most of the detainees in the Dominican Republic. The family of one of the detained Americans obtained independent counsel as of Feb 7.

From a Feb 2nd interview Greta Van Susteren had with Jorge Puello – Read his lies

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Ten Americans from a Baptist church under arrest in Haiti. Why? Well, for trying to take dozens of children out of disaster zone to the Dominican Republic.

The American say they were just trying to rescue the children. The Haitian government says that is not so, that the group knowingly and illegally were taking the children out of the country.

Joining us by phone is Jorge Puello, the attorney for the detained Americans. Jorge, where are your clients tonight?

JORGE PUELLO, ATTORNEY FOR DETAINED AMERICANS (Via telephone): They are being detained right now at a police station a couple of blocks away from the U.N. headquarters.

VAN SUSTEREN: What happened? What did your clients say?

PUELLO: Well, I only got access to speak to one of them. The other nine, the police are denying access to lawyers. I don't understand why they are doing that.

And so far, what information we have gathered is — you have to understand that Haiti right now is in a state of emergency. And there is no functioning government and no functioning government offices over there.

So they were trying to get these kids out to a safer place. If you go to city there's no food, no drinking water. There's a lot of problems going on, and they were trying to help these kids.

VAN SUSTEREN: I understand there were 33 children two months to 12- years-old, is that correct?

PUELLO: Yes, ma'am.

VAN SUSTEREN: Where are those children tonight?

PUELLO: I don't have no information. The Haitian government has been very unwilling to talk to us. They don't give us information. Our clients are not even charged and so they don't want to give us any documents telling us what the charges are.

VAN SUSTEREN: Why haven't you been able to see your clients?

PUELLO: We get to the police station and we ask to see them and they say we need permission from the director general. When we asked them where is the office of the director general, they keep telling us they don't even know, that the building collapsed and there's no one there and they are just giving us the run-around.

VAN SUSTEREN: Are you in Haiti tonight or the Dominican Republic?

PUELLO: I'm right at the border waiting for the gate to open tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, I got here too late to the border to cross over.

VAN SUSTEREN: So at this point you can't cross over into Haiti?

PUELLO: No, because they close at the gate at 7:00 at night.

VAN SUSTEREN: Do you know what your clients intended to do with those children? Was it just to bring them to the Dominican Republic or to the United States?

PUELLO: There was no intention to bring them to the United States. They were only trying to take them to a temporary facility so they can be taken care of. A lot of these kids don't even know that their parents have died. They need psychological help.

And it doesn't make any sense when at the border they are not asking for any papers. But Haitians cross over to the Dominican Republic and the Dominican government is not asking for passports or any ID to cross over.

VAN SUSTEREN: Where did they find these 33 children? How did they get these children?

PUELLO: There was an orphanage that collapsed in Haiti. It was called friends of the orphans of Haiti. And there was somebody over there that told them that the orphans had no place, no room to place them.

And these people that came to Haiti to help these kids were trying to do a job that nobody is doing right now. There's too many kids in the streets. There's a lot of people starving to death in Haiti. And they were just trying to help them. There was no intention to do anything illegal.

VAN SUSTEREN: Jorge, thank you, and keep us informed. Thank you.

PUELLO: No problem, have a nice day. Great show you have, thank you.

VAN SUSTEREN: Thank you, sir.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584523,00.html

Lying liars and the lies they tell.

PUELLO: There was an orphanage that collapsed in Haiti. It was called friends of the orphans of Haiti. And there was somebody over there that told them that the orphans had no place, no room to place them.

Dear God,

Let him be arrested by El Salvador's authorities! He is running a human trafficking ring! Make them all pay!

http://www.magicvalley.com/news/local/article_c...

The Americans, largely from Eastside Baptist Church in Twin Falls and Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, say they were only trying to help orphans survive the earthquake. But legal experts say taking children across a border without documents or government permission can be considered child trafficking.

Eastside members arrested include Pastor Paul Thompson, 43, his son Silas Thompson, 19, and Steve McMullen, 56. Church members Matt and Lora Crider and John Requa were also involved with the project, but remained in the Dominican Republic and were not arrested.

There are more people than the original 10. They weren't arrested because they were in the Dominican Republic, prolly getting the place ready to receive the stolen children.

More links concerning Puello:

Dominican lawyer for Americans jailed in Haiti has no license to practice in native country

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) – An official says the Dominican man giving legal advice to 10 Americans detained in Haiti on child-kidnapping charges has no license to practice law in his home country.

http://www.todayonline.com/BreakingNews/EDC1002...

From a DR forum (http://www.dr1.com/forums/haiti-earthquake/)

“Has anyone heard of Jorge Puello?”

http://www.dr1.com/forums/haiti-earthquake/1006...

&

Two Google articles – English translation (one from the DR forum) about El Salvadorian trafficking and the person who is still at large (and who might or might not be connected to Puello). The first one is dated May 30, 2009, the second October 8, 2009. The translations are very rough.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=...

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=...

Can you edit this thread so that it stays at the top? There is SO MUCH MORE.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A Dominican man who has served as legal adviser and spokesman for 10 Americans detained in Haiti on child-kidnapping charges has no license to practice law in his native country, officials said Friday.

Jorge Puello, who has been a high-profile advocate for the American Baptists as they navigate the Haitian justice system, is in apparent violation of Dominican law for failing to register with the local bar association or obtain a license, said Jose Parra, vice president of the Dominican Lawyers Association.

Parra said his organization was still investigating the situation and might file a complaint with the Justice Department, which could pursue criminal charges.

Puello declined to comment in a brief telephone interview, saying he would be busy in court representing a U.S. firm seeking to establish a business in the Dominican Republic. He could not be located in court and did not return later phone calls.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/...

It keeps getting worse:

Mr. Puello said in the interview that he had been representing the Americans free of charge because he was a religious man who commiserated with their situation. But other lawyers for the detainees said that the families had wired Mr. Puello $12,000 to pay for the Americans’ transportation out of Haiti if they were released, and that they had been told by Mr. Puello in a conference call late Tuesday that he needed an additional $36,000. Mr. Puello said that he had not participated in a conference call.

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2010/02/12/b...

The twists and turns this story has taken is just incredible. These are some sick twisted individuals. Nothing but lies on top of lies. These manipulative scheming bastards are getting their comeuppance, dammit. This is just crazy!

THEY ARE SO FUCKING EVIL!

OMFG—This is crazy. I'll bet these people are part of a larger ring of human traffickers. How did the family member know to hire a suspected human traffickers?

He doesn't even have a license to practice law!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, just imagine what they were going to do with those kids if their plan had worked?

Please, Justice Dept!

Get all of them involved…. Every last one, down to the pastor if need be!

Sweet Jesus!

NO.LICENSE.TO.PRACTICE.LAW

Miranda

From what I've been reading today, this isn't new to them.

So now Puello is denying he was on the conference call?

Lying evil crooks…all of them!

the more you dig, the more slime that comes out. no wonder they wanted to brush this under the rug and get those babynapping thieves out of there as soon as possible. because the more you dig, the LESS DEFENSE ANYONE CAN HAVE FOR THESE THIEVES.

A link from a Websleuths post. There is a cache version (click on Puello Real Estate Group) of what appears to be the brothers' real estate website. There is also information about another website that is not available.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p...

OMG!

So he was going to provide the rooms for the kids to stay?

I just knew someone else was behind the Idaho thugs.
Now who is behind Puello?

Miranda & Audrey,

You guys are all over it!

Good work!

Oh, they were trying to run game on the Haitian (black folks) government

Remember how the Haitian attorney said he had not received a DIME of payment and his request to be paid as would be expected, was then followed by Puello claiming he was trying to extort money…but here we find out today that Puello, WHO HAS NO LICENSE TO PRACTICE LAW ANYDAMNWHERE, was wired $12,000 by the families in Idaho already and they say he wanted $36,000 MORE.

Excellent point SG2! Why the hell they sending money to Puello? How do they know him? who bought him to their attention?

This shit is maddening.

A known crook, with no law license, trying to scandalize a legitimate attorney and claiming extortion? Why? Because white folks are so quick to believe this about the Haitian government and black folks in general, ftm! Puello wanted the legitimate attorney out of the way so he could run game! Mofos!

A family member of one of the detained hired Puello!

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2010/02/12/b…

The New York Times says this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/world/america…

There were also questions about whether Mr. Puello, who said he had been hired by the Central Valley Baptist Church in Idaho to represent the Americans.

The whole entire church is suspect!

You can't make up this shit, no way, no how….. It's maddening!

Will Puello go down with the sinking Silsby ship too?; he'd better.

See, the longer they stay, the more will be revealed. They're going down. Stay on it Sg2!

oh! Jezzus Christ – I LOVE THE INTERNETS!!!!

They got there a week AFTER the others (the original 10), so may not have had time to get into Haiti yet or weren't ever supposed to go. Don't know. According to the Twin Falls church (Eastside Baptist) web site the Criders and Mr. Requa have been on numerous 'missions' elsewhere.

His being a religious man and all, if I recall correctly – Sephardic Jew.

They're all going down!

Ain't this some shit?! Puello trying to scam the Haitian (black folks) government with no law license! OMFG!

it's quite amazing, but the truth will out itself eventually. this smelled from the get go and folks knew it. keep on digging. more snakes will come from underground.

didn't we say what the hell does a WHITE CHURCH IN IDAHO WANT WITH BLACK CHILDREN?

been asking that from DAY ONE.

THEY KNEW what was coming down the pike and wanted to rush it, so by the time it all came out, the thieves would be OUT OF HAITI, and fighting extradition back.

It's not a 'white church', rikyrah. Don't go there. It does have members who are people of color. There may not be a large population of blacks here, but there is a significant Latino population as well as Asian and multiple other groups.

Now – that doesn't mean there motives aren't fucking suspect.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/102/story/1071122...

“We fear for our lives in Haiti. There is corruption and extortion,” the note read. “Laura wants to control. We believe lying. We're afraid.”

The note adds: “Please, you must listen. We have no way to call. Court will not let us have a say with anything about truth for us. We only came as volunteers. We had nothing to do with any documents and have been lied to.”

They were running a mofo game! It was to cast the Haitian government in a bad light. They wanted white people to think ” those corrupt black folks holding innocent white “christians” folks in jail, who were only doing God's work with those poor heathen black people”!

DIRTY MOFOS!

Damn bitches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They wanted white people to think ” those corrupt black folks holding innocent white “christians” folks in jail, who were only doing God's work with those poor heathen black people”! /snark

you speak the truth a great deal, but what other defense can you have when you've been caught red-handed with 33 children you've STOLEN, and an easy THIRD of said children can be proven NOT to be orphans with a simple interview?

he's such a crook, he thought he was slicker than grease. he took on the wrong con this time.

That I don't about – and the Haitian government is (was) pretty corrupt.

The context is getting lost. The note was partially written in relation to Laura Silsby being the primary speaker for the group. And when you're sitting in jail and nothing is happening – and you don't know what's happening – I'll just bet your world gets pretty small.

That Laura Silsby went from orphanage to orphanage begging for children is a crime unto itself. She should have been arrested for that alone.

From the way the note was written and the asanine planning of this, I'm beginning to question the mental capacity of these people that volunteered to travel with Laura Silsby. Either they are all mentally slow or they're conspirators that are now jumping off the sinking ship. I'm not sure which one of those people they wanna be, but there is absolutely nothing rational about their decision to go to Haiti in the first place. i'm not cutting them any slack, there are plenty of people in prison because they were too stupid to think first.

Haiti earthquake: In God's name

Soon after the quake, 10 US Baptists were arrested trying to smuggle 33 children out of Haiti. Were they just trying to help, as they claim, or was something more sinister going on?

The village of Callabasse is perched on top of a hill in the lush St Jacques mountains in Haiti. To reach it you drive an hour and a half from the shattered centre of Port-au-Prince, ­finishing the journey along a dirt track. At the ­entrance to the village a cluster of ­concrete houses are set back from the road. A few show signs of minor ­damage, but the general impression is that this village has been spared much of the ­terrible impact of the earthquake. The contrast it presents to the devastation of the capital is enhanced by a game of football that is taking place on an expanse of dusty ground to one side of the village.

It was in this small, remote rural community that a bus arrived towards the end of January. Out stepped 10 American Baptists, five men and five women, eight from the sparsely populated western state of Idaho, one from Kansas and the last from Texas. They had come, by their own reckoning, to bring God's love to the precious children of Haiti. Their God-given mission was to heal the orphans of the disaster, helping them to “find new life in Christ”.

With the help of a young man from the village, Isaac Adrien, who could speak English, the Americans asked all the 500 people of Callabasse to assemble on that soccer pitch. With Adrien translating, the Americans handed round leaflets illustrated with pictures of a hotel swathed in greenery and a swimming pool, just a short walk from the sea. It was here, in a seaside resort in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, that the Americans promised they would take children from Callabasse and offer them a new life. “We love God,” the leaflet says, “and he has given us tremendous love for the children of Haiti.”

Over the next few hours forms were signed, farewells made and about 20 children ushered into the Baptists' bus. And here begins one of the most puzzling, contentious and disturbing episodes to have arisen out of the catastrophe that struck Haiti a month ago.

~read more at link~

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/feb/...

I found this to be one of the better articles on the situation in Haiti.

Word

The light is being shown on these fucking evil crooks. They wanted to paint a picture. But they got tricked. It is what it is!

The whole entire church is suspect.

One of the 10 – Jim Allen has his own representation (and pretty impressive at that, attorneys associated with WilmerHale) and has said that Puello does not speak for or represent him. This shows a definite breaking away from Silsby. The others may soon follow – they appear to have done so by the written note.

As far as their intentions, I can't say. According to the article I referenced from The Guardian short term mission work is the norm among churches today.

“Such behaviour raises questions about Silsby's motives and objectives. But for the remaining nine ignorance and naivety appear to go some way to explain how they got in the mess they now find themselves in. Certainly, that would fit a changing pattern of behaviour within the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the US to which Central Valley Baptist church belongs. Over the past 20 years there has been a dramatic shift away from “career missionaries” who spend years immersed in the culture and language of the people they seek to turn to God, in favour of “missionary tourists” who dip in and out of communities for mere days or weeks and have much less cultural sensitivity.”

I wonder why didn't any of black folks/ people of color in the church go along for the ride to steal lil black kids?

What's the percentage of blacks in Idaho?

These mofos are mentally challenged, this was premeditated, albeit, poorly Each and every one of thes folks need to pay for their crime.

They are jumping ship now, because they have been caught!

Nothing of any value and worth that will benefit black children…

I'm done. ALL OF THEM NEED TO GO TO PRISON FOR YEARS!!!!

If there were POC who were members of that chruch, why weren't they elicted to accompany these good white Christians?

Afterall, the Haitian children would have folks who at least look like them, and could offer them just as much comfort and reassurance.

No apologies here, but 10 white people rolling up in a crib and taking swooping me up in their arms would totally freak me out!!!

There may be POC in that church, but the beneficiaries of this scheme are white folks.

I SECOND the motion!!!!!!

I third it

They ALL were hunting down kids like scavengers! They all knew what was up!

These bastards exploited the parents desire to protect their kids!

LET THEM ALL ROT IN PRISON!

Good question. I'm thinking it has more to do with WHO Ms Laura wanted in. She wanted those she could dupe.

1-2%. I think it's 1.9%

First off – my apologies to rikyrah.

I forgot who we were dealing with – mothrfuckers.

The LIES….the LIES….. JSESUS H. CHRIST…… I don't even count myself as a believer as such, but this – THIS is just too fucking twisted and SICK.

With the help of a young man from the village, Isaac Adrien, who could speak English, the Americans asked all the 500 people of Callabasse to assemble on that soccer pitch. With Adrien translating, the Americans handed round leaflets illustrated with pictures of a hotel swathed in greenery and a swimming pool, just a short walk from the sea. It was here, in a seaside resort in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, that the Americans promised they would take children from Callabasse and offer them a new life. “We love God,” the leaflet says, “and he has given us tremendous love for the children of Haiti.”

I'm not buying the others were duped. If there was any doubt about the others, it was removed when the report came out saying the group had taken 40 kids a few days earlier. All doubt was removed concerning their being duped.

These people passed out flyers, they sweet talked loving parents into giving up their kids because the parents were poor.

I want them in prison for the rest of their natural lives & afterwards, I want them to burn in hell.

Anyone grown person that would have a desire to fuck a child deserves to be hanged!

I'm talking about before leaving for Haiti. I'm not talking about once they got to Haiti.

That's one of the things I'd didn't remember off the top of my head when replying to rikyrah – the first attempt.

One thing – where was that first attempt? Was it in Port-au-Prince? Because this trip in picking up the 33 kids in Callabasse was an hour & half driving from PauP.

Nope…not buying the “maybe they were duped” meme…not.at.all.

Their intentions were to mislead the people in that village and to take their children away for God-knows-what-purpose…there were NO good intentions…not at any point. These people got BUSTED. They were shopping for children. They were not rescuing anyone or on some holy mission.

A link to the website of the civil police of El Salvador where three photos are posted – left photo is Puello, center photo is person wanted for trafficking, right photo is Salvadorian passport of person wanted for trafficking.

http://www.pnc.gob.sv/informacion/noticia_detal...

Information is from the Dominican Republic forum.

http://www.dr1.com/forums/832480-post271.html

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/08/haiti.borde...

The officer, who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals, said he stopped the 10 missionaries, including group leader Laura Silsby, on January 26 as they allegedly tried to transport 40 children on a bus from Haiti to the Dominican Republic.

Some of the jailed Americans have said they thought they were helping orphans, but their interpreters said last week that some of the children had parents. The interpreters said they were present when the parents spoke with the Americans.

Some parents in a village outside Port-au-Prince said they had willingly given their children to the Americans, who promised them a better life, and who said the parents could see their children whenever they wanted.

Dang Audrey!

You're all over this one! Big Up!

It's the same man. Same nose, eyes, eyebrows! It's him without a doubt.

These are some damn wicked people.

Each and every one of the 10
criminals are responsible for their individual actions involving the attempted theft of these Haitian children.

THE.END.

Thank You, Miranda!

No ma'am, not duped at all. The interpreters stated all Americans were there when the flyers were passed out. They all saw the parents and heard what was said to them about their children. So the entire group knew these kids were no orphans. The Idaho thugs are a part of a human trafficking ring to sell little black kids on the market.

Modern day slave traders!!!!!!

Damn, audrey – you're a freakin' web sleuth!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/world/america...

A family member of one of the detained hired Puello!

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2010/02/12/b…

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/world/america…

There were also questions about whether Mr. Puello, who said he had been hired by the Central Valley Baptist Church in Idaho to represent the Americans.

Jorge Puello is prolly making his getaway right now. He might be long gone by Monday unless authorities have their eyes locked on him.

Good job everyone..

I read the idaho paper and one of the comments was interesting, I wish there was a way to chase this lead down..

Scrivener wrote on 02/12/2010 12:49:01 PM:

Also, I feel naive for not checking up on Jorge Puello myself. There was a fellow at the Wall Street Journal forums who bragged about being involved in plans with Laura Silsby for months and implied he was a lawyer. Of course, he praised the Idaho 10. But, when people did a background check on him he turned out to be a real estate agent in the Dominican Republic, probably someone who made or would make a profit from leasing property to the Silsby. (Not that she would actually pay the rent.)

If anyone has noticed other discrepancies, especially people affiliated with Silsby or the church, they should contact reporters, either locally or nationally. (This kind of great story makes me wish I was still a journalist.)

What?

I wonder who is that?

i just found that comment interesting and wish there was a way the WSJ could review their forum. The excuse that this dude is using from an article i read was

“There's a Colombian drug dealer who was arrested with 25 IDs, and one of them had my name,” he said, not elaborating.

“Bring the proof,” he said when pressed about the child-trafficking accusations, ending the interview.

If whatever the above poster noted is true or have some way of confirming how sweet would that be?

i just found that comment interesting and wish there was a way the WSJ could review their forum. The excuse that this dude is using from an article i read was

“There's a Colombian drug dealer who was arrested with 25 IDs, and one of them had my name,” he said, not elaborating.

“Bring the proof,” he said when pressed about the child-trafficking accusations, ending the interview.

If whatever the above poster noted is true or have some way of confirming how sweet would that be?

Aleth,

That was a good find! Damn, I wanna know who the person is that wrote the comment. And he/she wrote it today.

“Bring the proof”? What kind of answer is that? WTF?

And the Silsby clan hired this con artist. It takes one to know one. Take
it to the bridge, No.1; they're all going to the pokey, and they'lll wish
they were traveling in outer space.

Anderson Cooper:

Now someone from the church stated Puello called them and said he would take the case for free? And these family members feel confident about him?

WTF? Confident? The entire church is suspect. They're lying all over the place.

Anderson Cooper:

Now someone from the church stated Puello called them and said he would take the case for free? And these family members feel confident about him?

WTF? Confident? The entire church is suspect. They're lying all over the place.

Was this on the Idaho Statesman site?

aleth

I think this is the person Scrivener is referring to. I hope the link works. Keep clicking on more at the bottom to view all his posts. From what I have read he does claim to have worked with Silsby.

http://online.wsj.com/community/384eefc8-9ecc-4...

How's he gonna take the case for free when he's already bilked them out of 12 grand?

and, how's he gonna take the case when he doesn't have a LAW LICENSE?

I agree with this statement, but believe we will disagree on which individuals are taking advantage and who are the vulnerable. Think of this scenario, Haitian “officials” bear witness to this privately funded mission. They see nothing but $$$$. Their greed overwhelms any humanitarian compassion or common sense. They see this as an economic opportunity.

The person is speaking about themself.

yea, reading the comments and found it interesting, i just want to see if what the person actually said

oh forget it then… sorry

p.s i feel like the WSJ is a cesspool, jeez the obama deerangement syndrome is off the wall even in their op-ed, disgusting echo chamber…

this dude is just talking out his ass

My head is swimming from all the lies.

Just lie after lie!

Well, we do know the Salvadoran police has issued an international arrest warrant for this guy!

Arrest this mofo!

It is so crazy until a person can't absorb all the lies, twists and turns.

This is madness! These crooked sobs! All of them!

Comment on: Haitian judge poised to release US missionaries at Schrivner also made this comment: 2/11/2010 7:21 PM MST on Idaho Statesman

I have seen it stated explicitly at other sites, but even when masked, a major reason some people don't want the Idaho 10 prosecuted is because they are uncomfortable with seeing white people held responsible for doing harm to black people. In the typical American mindset, white people deserve better treatment than black people. (Of course, that isn't true, but we are talking about mass psychology, not reality.) This situation, like any situation in which black people are being victimized, goes against the grain many are comfortable with. Some people are rising above this societal bias to place the blame where it belongs – on Selby and any knowing associates. But, others aren't. They are the ones who want the Idaho 10 to be released without any consequences or to blame the Haitian government.

Yeah – he's claiming he's worked with Laura Silsby for 8 months?

My head is swimming from all the lies.

Sitting here, that's exactly what I'm thinking. I can't keep this shit straight. I feel like I need a big-ass blackboard to write plus big-ass tables to lay out all the information.

Guys,

http://www.theage.com.au/world/organ-traffickin...

I know this is bizarre but what IF this Jorge Puello is connected to the Jewish trafficking ring where they were trafficking people for their organs?

Remember this? “The report said the police had found documents connected to the Sephardic Jewish community in a house in San Salvador where the traffickers had held women”.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php...

Sean Lankford of Meridian, Idaho, whose wife and daughter are among those detained, said Puello provided his services for free. “He's really shown himself to be completely trustworthy, and I truly believe he has done everything to help our people and to help us,” he said in a telephone interview from Idaho. Lankford said Puello contacted relatives of the Americans to volunteer his services.

Advisor to 10 investigated
A man offering legal counsel to missionaries charged with child kidnapping in Haiti is being looked at as a potential participant in a Salvadoran child prostitution ring.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/...

Salvadoran police say photos that surfaced Friday show the legal advisor to American missionaries jailed in Haiti may be the lead suspect in a human trafficking ring involving child prostitution in El Salvador.

Police say they are waiting for fingerprints to determine if Jorge Anibal Torres Puello is also wanted in El Salvador on charges of promoting prostitution among children in what has been one of the nation's most vexing social problems.

“There are similarities — the date of birth, and also similarities in the physical appearance,'' said Howard Cotto, deputy director of investigations for Salvadoran police, during a press conference in San Salvador.

The controversy surrounding the 42-year-old legal advisor — a key figure in the drama surrounding 10 Americans accused of trying to take 33 children out of Haiti — exploded yesterday when Salvadoran police announced they were trying to determine if the legal advisor was the notorious child trafficker.

During a press conference, Cotto said that mug shots of Jorge Torres Orellana — wanted for promoting prostitution and posting explicit photos of children on the Internet — shared a remarkable likeness to a photo of Torres Puello.

In an interview with The New York Times, Torres Puello denied any connection to the Salvadoran fugitive, saying “I don't have anything to do with El Salvador.''

For the past two weeks, the U.S. church group has come under scrutiny for skirting the laws of Haiti to remove the children in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that tore through the capital on Jan. 12.

In the wake of their arrest, members of the Central Valley Baptist Church have said their leader, Laura Silsby, mislead them about the legitimacy of their mission in Haiti.

But with the recent announcement by Salvadoran police, attention has turned to Torres Puello, who has been representing himself as a legal counsel to the group.

Though he claims to have a law license, the Santo Domingo address listed on Puello Consulting's website turned out to be the office of Alejandro Puello, Torres Puello's cousin.

Alejandro Puello showed a Miami Herald reporter on Friday around the bare, one-room office in a working-class neighborhood and said Torres Puello has never worked with him, and that his cousin is not a lawyer.

“Jorge Puello has nothing to do with this office,'' he said.

Alejandro Puello, 27, said he was unaware of any ties that his cousin may have with human trafficking in El Salvador.

He said he thought his cousin was born in New York and lived in Canada until recently.

Alejandro Puello — who said he is licensed to practice law in the Dominican Republic — said he challenged his cousin when he learned Torres Puello was lending legal advice to the American church group.

“I said, `Jorge, how, if you're not a lawyer?' '' he said. “He told me, `I hired a lawyer for them in Haiti.' ''

During the press conference Friday in El Salvador, police said they will seek Torres Puello's extradition if evidence shows he is indeed the fugitive and accused child trafficker Torres Orellana.

http://www.haitivox.com/

Salvadoran Press w Info on Sex Trafficker Ring thought to be related to Dominican lawyer helping US jailed missionaries in Haiti.

Below is a excerpt from an article in today's edition of ElSalvador.com that provides a summary of the news (already posted last blog entry and carried in today's New York Times) that the Dominican lawyer (Jorge Torres) representing jailed US Baptists missionaries is thought to be a wanted sex trafficker in San Salvador named Jorge Torres Orellano. The latter is wanted for trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors in a case last May that resulted in jail for Orellano's life partner. (Details below)

The Orellano duo are thought to be part of an international trafficking network that brought Dominican girls and women to Nicaragua to forcibly work as prostitutes in El Salvador.

Note: I won't translate the whole story below, only the section related to the Salvador case and trafficking network history that appears to linke Jorbe Torres Orellano to prior history and activity in the Dominican Republic.

(English translation of text to follow Spanish, below)

Traficante actuó como abogado en Haití
Trafficker acted as lawyer in Haiti

La policía salvadoreña está segura de que un supuesto abogado dominicano, identificado como Jorge Puello, es la misma persona que es reclamada por un juzgado de San Juan Opico, La Libertad.

Salvadoran police are sure that an alleged Dominican lawyer, identified as Jorge Puello, is the same person wanted by a judge in San Juan Opico, La Libertad.

Terremoto de Haití aceleró el tráfico de niños para prostitución
Haitian Earthquake increases child trafficking via prostitution
El Diario de Hoy
Viernes, 12 de Febrero de 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010

Un prófugo de la justicia salvadoreña se habría hecho pasar como uno de los abogados defensores de los 10 estadounidenses detenidos por intentar sacar sin permiso a 33 niños de Haití, tras el devastador terremoto registrado el 12 de enero pasado, según se desprende de una publicación del periódico estadounidense The New York Times.

A refugee from Salvadoran justice passed himself off as one of the laywers for the 11 Americans detailed for illegally picking up 33 Haitian children, after the devastating Jan 12 earthquake, according to the US newspaper the New York Times.

A raíz de esa investigación periodística, la Policía de Fronteras de El Salvador ha comenzado a indagar para establecer si el abogado Jorge Aníbal Torres Puello es la misma persona que se identificaba según su DUI, como “Jorge Torres Orellana” en el país y que es buscado por encabezar una banda de traficantes de mujeres y niñas de Centroamérica y el Caribe.

As a result of that media investigation, the Salvadoran Border Police has started an inquity to determine if the lawyer Jorge Anibal Torres Puellos is the same person identified according to his (Salvadoran) ID card as “Jorge Torres Orellano” — a person who is wanted for heading a sexual trafficking network involving women and girls from Central America and the Caribbean.

El jefe de la División de Fronteras de la Policía salvadoreña, Jorge Callejas, dijo, al ver la fotografía, que no hay duda de que se trata de la misma persona. “Es él, la misma barba y el rostro. Tiene que ser él”.

The chief of the Border Division of the Salvadoran Police, Jorge Callejas said, seeing the photograph, that there is no doubt they are dealing with the same person. “It's him, the same beard and face. It has to be him.”

Torres Orellana es reclamado por el juzgado de Primera Instancia de San Juan Opico, La Libertad, por trata de personas y explotación sexual de menores. En el mismo proceso es acusada su compañera de vida Ana Josefa Ramírez Orellana, quien guarda prisión. La detención de Ramírez Orellana se registró el 26 de mayo pasado en la residencial Bosques de Lourdes, en Colón, donde también se encontró una camioneta de lujo que estaba registrada a nombre de un ex funcionario de la Dirección General de Migración.

Torres Orellano is wanted by a judge in the First Instance of San Juan Opico, La Libertad, for tne Trafficking of Persons and Sexual Exploitation of Minors. This case also involved his life partner, Ana Josefa Ramirez Orellano, was is now in prison on these same charges. Her detention took place last May 26 in the Bosques de Lourdes neighborhood, in Colon, where a truck registered in the name of a ex-official of the General Bureau of Immigration, was also found.

La captura de la mujer se derivó de los testimonios de tres menores nicaragüenses y dos dominicanas, quienes se escaparon de una casa situada en la residencial Ciudad Versalles donde estaban privadas de libertad para luego ser obligadas a prostituirse.

Her capture followed testimony by three Nicaraguan and two Dominican female minors who escaped from a house in the Cuidad Versailled neighborhood where they had been kept imprisoned for purposes of prostitution.

En esa oportunidad, Jorge Torres Orellana pudo escapar de las autoridades policiales y sospechan que salió hacia Honduras. Fuentes policiales creen de que Torres Orellana no es salvadoreño aunque cuenta con el documento único de identidad (DUI) número 4167475-3. En el mismo le aparece que es nacido el 10 de octubre de 1977 en Huizúcar, La Libertad, y que sus padres son Genaro Torres y Esther del Carmen Orellana. Se presume que el documento de identidad es falso y que le hayan ayudado para obtenerlo.

At the time, Jorge Torres Orellana was able to excape the police authorities who suspected he fled to Honduras. Police sources thing Torres Orellano is not Salvadoran based on his ID card numbered 4167475-3. His birthdate appears to be the 10th of October, 1977 in Huizucar, La Libertad, and his parents are Genaro Torres and Esther del Carmen Orellana. It's presumed this ID is false and that he had help in obtaining it.

Sin embargo, Torres se hacía pasar en Haití como el abogado Jorge Puello y que habría nacido en Nueva York, Estados Unidos. No obstante, las autoridades policiales salvadoreñas creen que pueda ser originario de República Dominicana por las conexiones y múltiples viajes que le descubrieron durante las investigaciones.

In any case, Torres went to Haiti as the lawyer Jorge Puello who was born in New York, US. But Salvadoran police authorities think he may be from the Dominican Republic based on connections and multiple trips that were revealed during their investigations.

Puello dijo al periódico estadounidense en una entrevista telefónica que él no había participado en ninguna actividad ilegal en el país y que nunca había estado en El Salvador. Dijo que era un caso de identidad equivocada. “Yo no tengo nada que ver con El Salvador”, dijo Torres. Aseguró que su nombre es tan común en América Latina. “Hay un narcotraficante colombiano que fue detenido con 25 identificaciones y uno de ellos tenía mi nombre”, dijo.

Puello told the US newspaper in a telephone interview that he didn't take part in any illegal activity in the country (Salvador) and had never lived in El Salvador. He said it was a case of mistaken identity. “I have never been to El Salvador,” said Torres. He said his name is common in Latin America. “There's a Columbian drug trafficker who was detained with 25 identification cards and one of them had my name,” he said.

Agregó que había representado a los estadounidenses detenidos en Haití de forma gratuita porque era un hombre religioso que se compadeció de su situación. “Soy presidente de la comunidad judía Sefardi en la República Dominicana. Yo ayudo a la gente en este tipo de situación, no vamos a cobrar a estas personas un centavo”, dijo.

He said he had freely represented the US detainees because he was a religious man with compassion for their situation. “I'm president of the Jewish Sephardic community in the Dominican Republic. I help people in this type of situation, and we aren't going to charge these people a cent,” he said.

La Policía de Fronteras de El Salvador informó que durante los registros a las casas en Bosques de Lourdes y Ciudad Versalles en mayo pasado se encontró documentación relacionada con la comunidad judía sefardi.

The Salvadoran Border Police has reported that documents related to the Sephardic Jewish community were found in the houses in the Bosques de Lourdes and Cuidad Versailles neighborhoods in Past May (when Orellano's partner was arrested there).

El juez Bernard Saint Vil, que lleva el caso de los estadounidenses, dijo que le abrirá una investigación a Puello para establecer su verdadera identidad. “Yo estaba escéptico de él porque llegó con cuatro guardaespaldas, y nunca he visto eso de un abogado”, dijo el juez, quien pedirá la colaboración del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de Estados Unidos.

The judge Bernard Saint Vil, who is in charge of the US case, said he will open an investigation into Puello to establish his true identity. “I was skeptical because he arrived with four bodyguards and never have I seen that with a lawyer,” said the judge, who sought help from US Homeland Security agency to pursue this issue.

De hecho, The New York Times, indicó que la policía indicó que su fotografía se parecía a la del presunto traficante de menores de edad.

Apparently a story for Haiti Vox a journalist who met Laura in Haiti, note this is from the journalist point of view. No matter how this case plays out, I think everyone should note that Human trafficking and Organ Trafficking is huge. Its huge all around the globe and people prey on those who are in poverty and suffering. Its a shame that alot of folks from all aspect of the religious spectra are now using religion to prey on people. Its sicken… But there is a blessing in the Haiti10 arrest, shed a huge light on HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND ORGAN TRAFFICKING.
——————————————————–
http://www.haitivox.com/
More suspicious ties in Haiti missionary arrest case – Repost NYT
More Baptist missionary arrest fallout – some ugly suggested links (see NYT Times story following this post)- and my own ongoing concerns….

Laura and Me…

As some of you know, I met the Laura Silsby Baptist missionary group that was arrested for possible child trafficking when I was in Santo Domingo, on the eve of my (and their) entry in Haiti. We met by chance in a hotel there, the Hotel Lino on Sunday, January 24th. After introducing myself and my work monitoring the post-quake orphan crisis (on this blog), we later met and chatted for a half hour in their hotel room. They told me they were a relatively new group to the orphan scene, and were motiviated by God to try to help Haitian children. They'd already had a plan to have an orphanage in the Dominican Republic, and with the quake, their plan went into fast-track.

They'd rented rooms in a large hotel, and had chartered a bus that could pick up 100 kids and hoped to bring at least that many – but hopefully more — maybe 200 — to a hotel in the Dominican Republic for temporary housing, while they finished building a permanant orphanage where the children would live. They had a 'letter' authorizing them to do this from some Dominican 'minister.'

I wondered then: official or religious?

Either way, I knew that letter – from the Dominican side – wouldn't be enough. These were Haitian children, and they required Haitian official permission, and paperwork that adheres to the protocol for tranferring Undocumented Refugee Children across national borders. I told them that, but they were convinced they might overcome this 'red tape'.

At the time, I thought they were trying to be legit, but were misguided – though my suspicions were raised. We discussed Haitian concerns about trafficking, which she knew all about. For my part, I was seeking more information about the neeeds of orphanages they might be working with, to see how to link medical and food aid to such groups. Silsby informed me that her group was going to find 'native' orphanages – or centers – that had 'children others wouldn't want to adopt.' I thought she meant perhaps 'special needs' children, but didn't quite understand.

(Later, I learned that her group had targeted a community she had already visited in the past, and she had worked with a local pastor who asked parents to turn over their children for a 'better life' in the Dominican Republic.)

She repeatedly told me her group would not be putting the children up for adoption, which is why. she inferred, some Dominican had helped her with paperwork to transfer them 'to safety.'

She told me they were on a mission from God and if God wanted them to succeed, they would. She also told me they hoped to cross the border later that night, or the next day, or so on a Monday and be back in the DR the same evening….)

Hearing that, had an immediate 'red flag' moment, but also thought: 'well, the situation has been in flux, maybe they're not aware of the rules, even if they should be'… My gut told me they knew they weren't doing it right, but they were driven by a religious missionary fervor and wouldn't listen. They wanted the kids, and they clearly planned to act as quickly as possible.

(As I later told a number of media reporting on this story, I later informed the UN authorities and orphan advocates that I had told Silsby and two colleagues them that their plan as stated would likely be deemed illegal, possibly viewed as trafficking, and that they risked arrest and possible jail time in Haiti.

To do it right, they needed documents and they had to inform Haitian authorities and UN people at the Protection Cluster who were in charge, post-quake. I gave them this information and referred them to my blog, which had these contacts. Laura Silsby said she would look at the blog, and get that information, and we agreed to meet in the morning.

By morning, they were gone.

The next day, in Haiti myuself, I discovered that their group had clearly disregarded the advice and protocol I'd offered, and instead, seemed to be racing to round up children as they'd planned. When I got to the capital, and started visiting orphanages, I met the director of His Home for Children in Haiti who said a bus had turned up at his orphanage (near Delmas 60) late the night before, unannounced, with a missionary group that asked him to turn over remaining children in his care. He declined, telling me 'it smelled fishy.'

(Much later, post-arrest, a Christian school representative in Haiti confirmed that his school, which had taken in orphans, had been visited by Silsby's group and asked for children, but been turned away. He emailed me to say Laura Silsby had branded their response as 'heartless' for refusing to hand over the children to her.)

The DR Connection – and History….

My initial concern – shared with UN and Haitian officials – was the four days in between their arrival in Haiti and their arrest on Friday the 29th…. and the purported Dominican angle… Who had helped Silsby? Was it a government or religious group? Was there a trafficking angle?

I worried that the Silsby group had succeeded in picking up and transfering Haitian children to the DR PRIOR to their arrest. So was the UN when we spoke. The UN Protection Cluster sent an investigator to the Dom Rep the same day I met with their team to find out – the day after the arrest.

No word yet on any findings….

As many know, and as I saw on the Internet, Silby's statements to me were false.

Her group is in fact affiliated with an international adoption outfit of the same name, New Life, and in her own Trip Plan, accessible on the Internet for all to read, her group clearly states a plan for future adoption of the children brought from Haiti to the Dominican Republic.

I've since dug around a bit on the Internet, like many journalists, and found that others in her religious community have been active in the Dominican Republic since 2006, it appears.

So it's critical now to look more deeply at the activities and history of the Falls Church people, and not just her smaller group, I feel.
There are journalists from the UK and US who've been poking around in Idaho, but not turned up too much.

Within all this, I have received my share of tips and emails, including one from someone who filled me in on the prior sexual trafficking history of groups in that state. But her information was from the 1960s and '70s, so I haven't pursued it….

To date, I- we- have no information that she succeeded in actually transferring any children prior to the Friday arrest to the Dominican Republic, but clearly her group tried…and almost succeeded – before their arrest. So it's something that must be pursued, along with more information on who/what in the DR was colluding with her to help her group make this happen (almost).

More damaging evidence…..

Media stories since confirmed that a Haitian policeman privately told the Haitian prosecutor overseing this case that he was tipped off by a concerned citizen early in that fateful week to a bus ferrying 40 children in the Petion Ville section – and ordered them to get off. (See CNN story from this past Tuesday).

He directed Silsby to the Dominican consul to 'prove' she had authority to do this. But that didn't work. The consular officer told her quite pointedly that she had no adequate authorization to take Haitian children across the border, despite her claims that she had a letter from a Dominican representative allowing her entry. The children were Haitian, period. Haitian authority was required. He too, warned her that her actions would constitute trafficking (I'm paraphrasing here). But she was undeterred, it appears, and continued until she'd picked up the other 33 children – not orphans.

Who's Zooming Who?

As I told investigators, though the Silsby group's lawyers claim that only she and her assistant were the ringleaders in this affair, I actually spoke to three people from their group, and it was clear from my conversation with them that their clearly-stated mission had been excitedly prepared. Silsby may have convinced members of her group they had authority to take children, but I definitely told at least two other members they were likely to be stopped. Moreover, when a policeman stops your bus with 40 children aboard, orders them to get off, then tells you you're breaking the law, and you still continue to try to do it – again- then what part of the message are you not understanding?

I don't presume to be other members of that group, but they cannot claim the type of total innocence as has been portrayed by their lawyer OR to the media. They clearly knew that others felt their actions were or might be wrong, even if she may have convinced them those other people were misinformed. So yes, they may have been duped – convinced by Silsby, and by the evocation to do God's work and follow God's law above man's (or human's) law.

But it's important for people following this story to know that a group was involved, with open knowledge of their church/parishes in the US, and it was a planned trip, and it engaged Dominicans with prior ties in the Dominican Republic.

ENTER THE LAWERS.. and MORE UGLINESS….

Now comes a new layer of what I actually initially (for one day) thought was a case of severely misguided missionaries, that may actually prove to have far uglier layers. Let's hope not. But it won't surprise me at this point. I'm just very grateful for the Border and UN authorities and Haitian justice officials, and that lone policeman, who acted with such concern and alacrity to prevent a crime from succeeding. (Let's hope they or any affiliates didn't succeed before, of course….)

See today's story on the latest, below…

As I have said to inquiring media colleagues and to Haiti-lovers, the greater story here is the ACTIONS taken by the Haitian and outside orphan advocates to prevent this from succeeding, and for insisting on the rule of law, even in this case of catastrophic instability post-quake. I'd love to see articles about that, and articles focusing on how to HELP, legally, and quickly, the tens of thousands fo children who have been orphaned or displaced.

As I posted recently, to me the concept of provisional FOSTER placement, working with through the international Unaccompanied Refugee Minor program — NOT ADOPTION — offers a appropriate provional LEGAL avenue to quickly helping Haitian children, especially those who are amputees and need onoging medical care outside Haiti, to get to quick safety and care, while allowing Haiti and Haitian officials and orphan groups the time to reorganize and reintegrate these displaced or orphaned children. A mandatory two year period is already the norm required for international adoptions to look for possible living relatives or others that can take in children. Two years would give all parties time to organize this while keeping the urgent needs of children now foremost in mind.

Congratulations to Haiti – to Haitian advocates – for their vigilance, and their insistence on the rule of law. That protects everyone.

Now here's the possibly bad news that has cast more shadows on the Silsby mission….

The human trafficking for organs is unbelieveable. It is hard to wrap your head about such unspeakable acts. More light should be shed on this issue.

http://twelfthbough.blogspot.com/2010/02/one-ri...

interesting read

I tried to stay away from the case but I am convinced when the bible talks about the false witnesses, its talking about those below… Those who feel that their religion makes them so superior, those who feel that they know the thought and ways of the LORD, those who do not follow the actual words in the bible on preaching the gospel, those who are selfish about the way they share or interpret their religion. I don't remember Abraham or Jesus for that matter adopting just for the sake of spreading the gospel. Did I miss a chapter on this?

If they so care about the gospel, how about pulling the speck out of their own eyes? How about the children residing in the US, thousands of kids with no homes. This reads like a 1906 freaking missionary work, I never ever thought people do this.. I feel so naive, very naive.

http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option...
Baptist prof fears Haiti arrests will set back adoption movement
By Bob Allen
Published: February 02, 2010

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — A Southern Baptist seminary professor says the arrests of a group of U.S. Baptists accused of trying to remove children from earthquake-stricken Haiti without proper documentation could give a black eye to a budding movement of evangelicals who view adoption as a means of spreading the gospel.

Russell Moore, senior vice president for academic administration and dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, recounted his reaction to hearing the news that 10 Americans accused of human trafficking were members of Baptist churches Feb. 1 on the “Albert Mohler Radio Program.”

“I thought, 'Oh no, this is going to cause all kinds of derision to the orphan-care movement and to what the Holy Spirit is doing in churches all across America and all over the world in having a heart for orphans,'” Moore said, sitting in as guest host for seminary president Al Mohler.

Last year Moore published a book titled Adopted for Life calling on Christians to adopt children as a “Great Commission priority.” On Feb. 26-27, the seminary in Louisville, Ky., is sponsoring an “Adopting for Life” conference aimed at creating “a culture of adoption” in families and churches.

“The Bible tells us that human families are reflective of an eternal fatherhood (Eph. 3:14-15),” says a website promoting the event. “We know, then, what human fatherhood ought to look like on the basis of how Father God behaves toward us. But the reverse is also true. We see something of the way our God is fatherly toward us through our relationships with our own human fathers. And so Jesus tells us that in our human father's provision and discipline we get a glimpse of God's active love for us (Matt. 7:9-11; cf. Heb. 12:5-7). The same is at work in adoption.”

Moore, the father of two children adopted from a Russian orphanage, said while all the facts are not in about the motives and methods of the mission team comprised mostly of members of two Southern Baptist churches in Idaho, he has heard from many individuals stirred by images of suffering asking what they can do to help Haitian orphans.

Particularly following tragedy, Moore said couples seeking international adoption can feel frustrated by the seemingly endless process of filing and processing papers. But he said a certain amount of red tape is necessary to ensure that children have no surviving relatives able to care for them before they are removed from a home and that they receive proper care from their new parents.

“I'm worried that this news is going to give a black eye to the orphan-care movement in the same way that some of the really rambunctious, lawbreaking aspects of the right-to-life protestor movement did to the pro-life movement,” Moore said on Monday's program. “You had people who were saying for instance, 'Unless we have a constitutional amendment right now, outlawing all abortions in every situation, then we can't do anything.' Well that hurt, I think the pro-life movement in many ways.”

Moore said backlash to what is being reported as well-intended but poorly executed action by the church group “is going to cause people to have increased skepticism toward what I think is a genuine movement of the Spirit of God among God's people.”

During the segment Moore interviewed Jedd Medefind, president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, and, along with Moore and David Platt, senior pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala., one of three keynote speakers at the upcoming conference.

“I think those of us who care passionately for the cause of orphans and I think a lot of Christian groups that are out there on the ground really are just deeply embarrassed by this, and I think frankly it will have the potential to do some really pretty significant long -term harm to the cause of both Christian care in country as well as the cause of adoption,” Medefind said. “I think some folks who really oppose our approach to caring for children will kind of point to this very mistakenly as Exhibit A of reasons why a focus on adoption is not healthy and why you should leave caring for orphans just to governments and not allow ordinary people in the church to be involved.”

Medefind, a former aide to President George W. Bush who led the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, now heads an alliance of orphan-serving organizations and churches promoting Christian orphan and foster care and adoption and adoption ministry.

The group's mission statement says it exists to “motivate and unify the body of Christ to live out God's mandate to care for the orphan.” The Alliance's vision statement is “every orphan experiencing God's unfailing love and knowing Jesus as Savior.”

Moore said there are some people, only a few, who comprise “kind of an anti-adoption movement out there that would say every adoption is abduction, is man-stealing.”

Reacting to the news out of Haiti, Moore said, “I can just see those people saying, 'See, this is what we're talking about.”

In his book, Moore said when he and his wife were adopting their boys they were encouraged by social workers and family friends to “teach the children about their cultural heritage.”

“We have done just that,” he wrote.

“Now, what most people probably meant by this counsel is for us to teach our boys Russian folk tales and Russian songs, observing Russian holidays, and so forth,” Moore explained. “But as we see it, that's not their heritage anymore, and we hardly want to signal to them that they are strangers and aliens, even welcome ones, in our home. We teach them about their heritage, yes, but their heritage as Mississippians.”

“a budding movement of evangelicals who view adoption as a means of spreading the gospel.”

That is sick.

Lord have mercy. These sick twisted people.

and that is the sad truth.

Truly – the quote Miranda highlighted is what stopped me short, because that's IT. That's part of what drives their hubris.

“Now, what most people probably meant by this counsel is for us to teach our boys Russian folk tales and Russian songs, observing Russian holidays, and so forth,” Moore explained. “But as we see it, that's not their heritage anymore, and we hardly want to signal to them that they are strangers and aliens, even welcome ones, in our home. We teach them about their heritage, yes, but their heritage as Mississippians.”

While in Cleveland I met a couple thru mutual friends. They had adopted a baby girl from Russia and their intent, though she was growing up in Cleveland Heights, she would know from where she came. Of course, Mike was Jewish and Beth was Catholic so what can you expect from such an irreverent inter-religious marriage.

Especially when you can encompass the realization that for most organ 'donations' the person must die.

haitivox.com is a great blog. Anne-christine d'Adesky has detailed what the Haitians are facing in posts prior to the Silsby posts. She is reporting on operations and aid to Haiti what is needed to help the country. The devastation there must be enormous.

I'm making every attempt to find where this Callabasse (spellings differ apparently) is located in relation to Port-au-Prince, specifically the Petionville section. From what I can find via Google Earth is this tiny village is in the south of Haiti. I also found a blog written by a Scottish nurse who is working at an orphanage/sanctuary for children in Callabasse (Calebasse, etc).

http://heartsongsfromhaiti.blogspot.com/

Co-Sign!

I tried to stay away from the case but I am convinced when the bible talks about the false witnesses, its talking about those below… Those who feel that their religion makes them so superior.

You shall know them by their fruits.

….”Great front, this missionary thing with a real church backing you….great front!”

Nothing new under the sun. This type thing goes all the way back to slavery. Bible in one hand, gun in the other. Trafficking is trafficking, no matter what guise it takes.

I have been following this story on Weeseeyou (as a lurker) since it first broke. All I can say is: y'all be on it.

I can't understand how anyone could defend the behavior of this Silsby woman and her crew. I am so glad they were apprehended; as has been said many times, no telling what they intended to do with these precious children.

I am especially concerned about the exploitaition and abuse of children–from every corner of the earth–all over the world. It is my opinion that the exploitation of children has reached epidemic proportion. So at least this Silsby crew situation has served to open up the discussion as it relates to child and human trafficking. Thanks be to God.

Welcome! Please keep coming back and if you come across info dont hesitate to post it here. The way the media has treated this situation is criminal itself..but from the beginning we knew this story REEKED.

Welcome to WeeSeeYou, Ladyg67!

Wee are glad to have you share your thoughts with us. Make yourself comfortable and join the discussion.

I have become emotionally involved in this case. I can't let go. I want justice for those little kids. After viewing the video of the children crying for their mother shook me to the core. Those babies were tramatized. It broke my heart & I've cried many tears behind this. The bottom feeding thugs took advantage of poor people when they were so vulnerable. I want the Idaho thugs to pay! Just imagine what it would have been like for the kids if Silsby's plan had worked. I want the Idaho thugs to pay! There would have been no one to help these precious little ones, no one to comfort them. Any grown person that would have sex with a little child deserves to be hanged in my book. Just hang'em high!

You know what…..I read a comment on the Wall Street Journal about this story probably a week ago and the guy said he knew Silsby and he talked about how there was no criminal intent. I didnt think anything of it really because people lie, so I assumed this was just somebody pretending because they had the “these are good white christians!” psychosis.

Thanks SG2 and Miranda for the warm welcome. And thank you and the Weeseeyou family for being a voice of sanity in a sea insanity–on all fronts.

Keep telling the truth. I predict this site is going to go viral. I just recently told my son about it. He is one those analytical types ( a lawyer) who lean towards seeing everything from a lawyers point of view. I told him you didn't hold anything back. He checked you out, and guess what, he was/is very, very impressed.

Update to the ongoing Puello saga:

Adviser to Church Members May Have Warrant

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The man who was providing legal advice to the American church members arrested in Haiti may have a string of legal charges against him in the United States as well as a warrant for his arrest in El Salvador for sex trafficking, records show.

~snip~

Public records and court documents in the United States also indicate that a person with the same name and birth date is considered a fugitive and is wanted by the Miami police, the United States Customs and the United States Marshals Service. The name and birth date are also the same as the man being pursued by the police in El Salvador and for whom Interpol has transmitted an arrest warrant.

An order is listed in the United States national crime database for a man with that name and birth date to be arrested on sight and reported to United States immigration officials. Those records say he is wanted in connection with crimes including bank fraud in the United States and Canada, and theft of American government property. Police records say he has violated parole.

When asked in an interview on Thursday to explain whether he was tied to the sex trafficking ring, Mr. Puello was silent at first and then became enraged.

“I don’t have to answer any questions from you people,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/world/america...

ARREST HIM AND LOCK HIM AWAY FOREVER! HE IS A DANGER TO SOCIETY!

Con men get to the point where they believe they can con ANYTHING. He thought he was too good to be caught. I believe his connection to the case is going to be their and HIS undoing

JORGE PUELLO: NOT A LAWYER AFTER ALL

http://bastardette.blogspot.com/2010/02/jorge-p...

Last night I asked some questions about Puello's relationship to CVBC and Laura Silisby. I was particularly interested in whether Puello and Silsby had a pre-quake relationship (about what?) which would have greased the way for Puello to slide in and “advise” the prisoners, their families, and their churches.

We now have this small statement from Sean Lankford, whose wife Corinna and daughter Nichole are being held in Haiti, which suggests that either the folks in Idaho are just plumb dumb or that they had reason to trust Puello, sight unseen. (my emphasis).

Sean Lankford of Meridian, Idaho, whose wife and daughter are among those detained, said Puello provided his services for free.

“He's really shown himself to be completely trustworthy, and I truly believe he has done everything to help our people and to help us,” he said in a telephone interview from Idaho.

Lankford said Puello contacted relatives of the Americans to volunteer his services.

This contradicts Thursday's Times report:

But other lawyers for the detainees said that the families had wired Mr. Puello $12,000 to pay for the Americans’ transportation out of Haiti if they were released, and that they had been told by Mr. Puello in a conference call late Tuesday that he needed an additional $36,000. Mr. Puello said that he had not participated in a conference call.

While the names of “other lawyers” (i.e., real lawyers) went unmentioned, they are attorneys from the pro bono Christian advocacy organization Liberty Legal Institute headquartered in Plano, Texas and WilmerHale, the K-Street multinational firm Liberty Legal signed up to spring Amarillo contractor Jim Allen and probably Allen's inlaws, Eastside Baptist Church pastor Paul Thompson and Silas “Buck” Thompson.”

The Dream Team is (co)headed by Reginald J. Brown, (right) Vice Chair of the firm's Public Policy and Strategy Group. Brown has a long list of very high profile government and multinational clients, is a former board member of Hewlett-Packard (them again!) and is a former special assistant to George W. Bush. The other co-leader is WilmerHale partner Jennifer O'Connor, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy in the United States Department of Labor under the first Bush, and former special assistant to Bill Clinton. Allen's attorneys have issued a statement that Puello does not represent Allen. I hope to write more about Liberty Legal, Jim Allen, and his attorneys this weekend.

These are not lawyers to be trifled with, and Puello is a trifle.

It looks like he's laying low–hiding out from Interpol who has a warrant on him, the Salvadorean National Police who want his fingerprints, and Judge Bernard Saint-Vil who's investigating him. Oh, and Homeland Security is looking into him. The Idaho folks must be having cats the size of mastodons.

The Puello Consultation website has been taken down. When the AP attempted to contact him yesterday:

…Puello declined to comment in a brief telephone interview, saying he would be busy in court representing a U.S. firm seeking to establish a business in the Dominican Republic. He could not be located in court and did not return later phone calls.

An emotional Puello, did, however, give a short and bizarre interview earlier in the day with ABC News denying that he had done anything wrong An incurious ABC news gatherer (or to be nice, maybe a news editor cut the meat out, but we doubt it) reports the following:

But Jorge Puello denies any wrong doing and told us one reason he took the missionaries' case is because he knows what it's like to be falsely accused.

“If I had somebody that would have done what I did for them, I would not be in this big mess that I have for past years. So that's why this case touch me.

What is he talking about? Puello was only “falsely accused” after he took the missionaries' case, or else he's been “falsely accused” before. And if so, when and what for? Or maybe he's a time traveler.

Ed Murrow must be spinning out of control.

When I was reading this, I was thinking 'why would he put himself in this position?' He's obviously not professionally qualified to be the legal counsel for anyone. He's directly tied to these people.

That statement by Sean Lankford has always struck me wrong, as disengenius. How ya gonna think someone you didn't know until this all flared up as “completely trustworthy?”

Sean Lankford of Meridian, Idaho, whose wife and daughter are among those detained, said Puello provided his services for free.

“He's really shown himself to be completely trustworthy, and I truly believe he has done everything to help our people and to help us,” he said in a telephone interview from Idaho.

This fucking group was really expecting to just 'go under the wire' with their plan. They fully expected to waltz in there, steal just any kids they could con the parents out of parting with, and leave. And once they were in the Dominican Republic, then it just makes ya wonder what would've happened.

And Silsby – where's Cheney and his fucking waterboard?

These bible belt white folks will not adopt black kids in their own good ole USA; they will not live near black folks, and will not fight for social justice right here. But they go off these shores to “do good” adopting Haitian kids. yeah go figure.

Some twisted thinking right there.

there are 500,000 children in foster care.

40% of those children are Black.

but, they won't go near these kids…because whatever pitfalls do exist in our social service system, they know for damn sure, their asses would be investigated before given any Black children – to White folks in IDAHO.

Latest from the WSJ. There doesn't appear to have been any prior connection between the missionaries and Puello. Judge Saint-Vil sees no reason the two cases should be merged and the poster from the WSJ forums is mentioned in the article.

Puello Probe Separate From Missionaries' Case

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – An investigation into whether the legal advisor to 10 jailed American missionaries in Haiti is himself wanted for alleged sex trafficking may have no impact on the fate of the missionaries, the Haitian judge conducting the investigation into the Americans said on Saturday.

Bernard Saint-Vil, the magistrate overseeing the Americans' case, said that the probe of Jorge Puello, the Dominican legal advisor to the missionaries, is separate from his main probe.

“At this point, the two cases have nothing to do with each other,” Bernard Saint-Vil, the investigating magistrate, said in a telephone interview.

The Americans were arrested on Jan. 28 as they tried to take a busload of 33 Haitian children into the Dominican Republic without paperwork from the Haitian government. Haitian police put them in jail and an investigation was launched into whether they had abducted the children. The group has denied the charges, saying they were trying to help children after the recent earthquake.

Soon after, the group hired a man they believed to be a lawyer from the Dominican Republic calling himself Jorge Puello.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487...

Not buying it. A man who has no law license ANYWHERE does not decide to pretend to be one for a group of strangers when the case has already made the international news. He wanted them to get rid of the other legitimate attorney for a reason. He is involved because HE IS INVOLVED. There is a connection, you can bet on that.

Link to Interpol wanted page:

http://www.interpol.int/public/Data/Wanted/Noti...

Laura is a lucky woman with lots of luck, she is teflon….. shakes head [some folks are just lucky while others get caught once and they are done]

OMG…..this the same damn dude:
http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Jorge+Puello/...

A man wanted for international child trafficking did NOT jump into this case and its not related. That is complete and utter bullshit. He got involved because he already WAS involved.

Umm, hmm, the WSJ. Ruppert Murdock's rag. What kind of nonsense is this, that Puello is not connected. Silsby's church folk contacted this phoney and he took the child-traffickers case.

“Soon after, the group hired a man they believed to be a lawyer from the Dominican Republic calling himself Jorge Puello.”

Where I come from, you hire a lawyer who you think knows his business and will defend you out of the mess you're in. Puello knnows the child- trafficking business, because he did it for a living… THE END!

Get out of here with that fucking bullshit!

A man with no law license just happened to “volunteer” his services because he came across their story and it was the good moral thing to do??

and where is the part about the talking mouse and the fairy godmother? Because that shit is nothing BUT make believe. This shady man didn't GET involved, he already was…he got rid of that Haitian attorney because he HAD too, these people are in this crap neck deep. This whole “we didnt know Jorge Puello beforehand” is straight up BULLSHIT.

to White folks in IDAHO

White folks anywhere. Period. It has little to do with being from Idaho or the percentage of blacks vs whites here. And there are plenty of children in the foster care system here in Idaho who could benefit from being adopted as well.

There are already a few white folks here who have adoptive children who are Haitian.

Welcome to WSY, ladyg67. We appreciate your insights. Please do come back and share when you can.

Our children need all the advocates that we can provide for them.

INTERPOL?

FUCKING INTERPOL IS LOOKING FOR HIS ASS?

I told you…with every rock…more slime comes out.

this was HIS ' product'. THAT is why he's involved. I've come to that conclusion. he was setting up a new pipeline with Silsby.

Interpol is the organization that a bunch of nations belong to. I used to think it was just Europe but it's includes Central and South America and a bunch of other countries….Iceland….

You betta tell it, Rikyrah!

BAM!

Yes he was! No doubt that he funded that trip and all.

My Lord! My Lord!

Those little kids were spared. No doubt in my mind that something terrible was going to happen to those babies. It is so frightening of just how close they came to danger.

Silsby is going down, that child-theiving bitch and her 9 cohorts are going down.

Hi Ladyg67
I am hoping hoping hoping this site goes viral. I am saddened about the whole Haiti situation.

I shudder thinking of what they were going to use those kids for……. Filthy, slimey….

I know I know. I hate to think about what was the plan for those children. Those people are evil.

Notwithstanding his lack of attorney credentials: education at law school, etc.

Word, Idaho figures prominently in this case because of the fact that it is an EXTREMELY white populated state with white folks who would not blink in giving a black Haitian child a wave of their hands.

You might be from Idaho, and not capable of child trafficking, but IDAHO is where Silsby and her folks come from, so she put the state in the limelight with her dasterdly deeds.

Two things:

1) That smirking face of Laura Silsby that fronts this thread says it all. I don't know what Sean Lankford meant when he said he finds Mr. Puello “completely trustworthy” but something is terribly up – terribly. This story has blown apart here. Some native speakers of Spanish have also said 'Puello' is NOT a common name. Martinez, Gonzales (Gonzalez), are common as are Brown & Smith. We'll see when Mr. Puello is arrested and his fingerprints match.

2) From the 'Twelfth Bough' there's this story, 'Trading on Misery'

Fine.

Yep, it is extremely white; however, it's not true about being uncaring.

Silsby is not 'from' Idaho. They moved here from California. I think many people came here expecting this to some fucking Mecca for white supremacists/separatists. True enough the Aryan Nations were here and too many thought the entire state was such. It is not and most especially where I'm from and these dumb shits are located. We're 8 miles apart.

Unfortunately, there are remnants of people who are idiots way up north – in the panhandle – just to chop that fucking off and make another square state.

Okay – whatever. I'm not going to let this ruin anything. Just expect me to kick back once in awhile.

Filthy no good bottom feeders!

More…

Baptists distance themselves from adviser

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A man who provided legal assistance to 10 jailed U.S. missionaries and who may be wanted for human trafficking in El Salvador was not known to the Americans' church group before their arrest, a relative said Saturday.

For that reason and because the adviser could by law represent them in Haiti, lawyers for the missionaries argued, his legal troubles should have no bearing on whether the missionaries are released provisionally, as a judge has recommended.

Sean Lankford told The Associated Press that Jorge Puello first contacted relatives of the Americans by calling their church, Central Valley Baptist in Meridian, Idaho, after they were arrested on Jan. 29 trying to take 33 children out of Haiti.

They thought Puello, a yarmulke-wearing Jew from the Dominican Republic, was a good Samaritan and had no reason to doubt his intentions, said Lankford, whose wife and daughter are among the detained.

“He helped us find the lawyer we have now. He helped us gather evidence. Before him, we really were having a hard time finding anyone at all” to represent the missionaries in neighboring Haiti, said Lankford.

Puello never asked for money for himself but “was going to help us to pay the other attorneys. He was the guy who was going to hand money to lawyers,” Lankford added in a phone interview Saturday.

“He even took a small plane into Haiti at one point and he didn't want to be reimbursed at all,” Lankford said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALe...

Wordsmith

It is what it is. I agree with Shanti & Rikyrah. Idaho is basically a white state with very few blacks and it is surprising that people from that state would travel to a 3rd world country to steal little black kids. I find it hard to imagine if the church had black members, that they weren't asked to go on this trip, being Haiti is a black country. Little black kids would have felt comfortable seeing someone that looked like them.

Wordsmith, at this point, my attitude is FUCK IDAHO! My only concern is the
children of Haiti and anywhere else where they are being exploited and
abused. The.END.

Good GOD these folks are gullible!

Oh…so you tried the 'soft' approach and then went straight to the bat. LMAO.

This is MORE about these people's evangelical Christianity than where they come from. It's not about Idaho and the geographics here. It's about their brand of Christianity and, yes, it is absolutely about white privilege.

I find it hard to imagine if the church had black members, that they weren't asked to go on this trip, being Haiti is a black country. Little black kids would have felt comfortable seeing someone that looked like them.

You would think wouldn't you? Seeming as the pastor and all associated with this group are prone to telling the truth, I'd say the claim they had 'persons of color' as members is bullshit.

Oh Please! Get fucking real, Lankford!

“It's about their brand of Christianity and, yes, it is absolutely about
white privilege.”

And it's prevelant in 99.9% white IDAHO.

Out of the fucking blue their good fairy came striding in – wearing a yarmulke.

I fucking give up.

Stop it!

Idaho is 96.4% white. So there.

Their brand of Christianity is REALLY in the minority. This state is predominantly Mormon & Catholic, something like 45/45/10.

Here's another strand that interesting to say the least – <a href=”http://brianakira.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/haiti-child-abduction-the-jewish-connection/”'the Jewish connection.'

I have been reading some of the May 2009 articles concerning the trafficking operation. I am including a link here (from Spanish to English translation a little rough but readable).

If Puello is Orellana he has quite a history. Click on the box on the right for the ad which was placed on the internet. It is in Spanish, however, you should be able to make out some of its intent. The last few paragraphs of the article details some of the money involved.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=...

WordSmith,

This website is particularly suspect. Drill down on this site and it's a mix of really weird anti-Jewish and a whole lotta stuff.

A. hot. mess.

It's a distraction, and a hateful one at that, but not surprising; blame the Blacks, blame the Jews, blame Obama, blame every one except that white witch and those 9 folk who claim they were on a mission from God.

I didn't check the home page or anything. It was interesting because of the 'history' of Trujillo, etc., that's all.

Remember that journalist who has 'Haiti Vox' blog – who had a chance meeting Laura Silsby & company in the Dominican Republic. She wrote this yesterday.

They'd rented rooms in a large hotel, and had chartered a bus that could pick up 100 kids and hoped to bring at least that many – but hopefully more — maybe 200 — to a hotel in the Dominican Republic for temporary housing, while they finished building a permanant orphanage where the children would live. They had a 'letter' authorizing them to do this from some Dominican 'minister.'

I wondered then: official or religious?

Yeah – who was this “Dominican minister?” And we're talking about a considerable amount of money for this project. Supposedly Silsby sold off part of her company – which would just be too weird considering there are most likely judgments against the company given the lawsuits filed against Silsby & the company – don't ya think?

WeeSeeYou community, another thread is coming up shortly and I'll link it back to this thread in case you need to refer back.

The latest from the Idaho Statesman. It's a background piece on Silsby.

Miranda … I totally agree with you. “Coincidences” like this are for naive fools to believe in. Silsby left a wake of deciet, reckless debt, numerous legal problems and traffic violations behind her in Idaho… her neighbors didn't even like her …. she displayed an utter lack of integrity in her business dealings and shafted her employees …. and in the midst of all this chaos she established “the childrens refuge” with a defunct address….. this woman is a true menace to society and needs to be locked up. For trying to grab the Picketts children at that orphanage in Haiti she should be thrown in jail for life!
That was the most bizarre incident of this entire fiasco…. And why on earth does everyone call these people “missionaries” !! If I hang a stethascope around my neck that doesn't make me a doctor!!!! ….anymore than traveling to a foreign country makes them missionaries!! There release only proves one thing….. our government told them to ….. Preval is owned lock stock and barrel by the U.S…. he may rattle their cage a bit but ultimately he does what he's told.

There release only proves one thing….. our government told them to …..

I can't express how angry I am that those child stealing scavengers walked out of jail and escorted by our military out of Haiti.

If the kids were white and the kidnappers were black, they'd be rotting in a dark hot cell for the rest of their lives.

Where is justice for the kids?

I think the 8 people Haiti released were most likely duped into this whole fiasco …. perhaps their only crimes were ignorance, lack of due diligence and a very big dose of stupid.  But Silsby and her pal were no doubt up to their necks in a child traffiking scheme along with that sleeze ball Jorge Puello and this “mystery” Dominican Republic minister they claim to have gotten paperwork from …… all to replenish her empty coffers back home.  The military escort back to the states for the 8 released is evidence of Washington pulling the strings along with the about face of the Haitian officials.  You know Preval, the Haitian president, was Aristide's prime minister and like all other government officials over there is crooked to the core.  So it's anybodys guess as to just how deep this goes and just how convoluted it gets …. but as the saying goes… if it walks, talks and smells rotten ……it sure as shootin' is rotten.  Unfortunately
Silsby's probably salivating over the prospects of becoming the new talk show sensation ….. that is probably why she has that smug smile on her face.

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“Dominican Republic minister”

Christine-anne d'Alesky of Haiti Vox (blog) thinks that so-called 'minister' is (was) NOT a government official but an actual preacher/pastor.

Your article loses any credibility with the mention of “white privilege”, why not just brand the woman evil without resorting to racism?