Haiti: A church group helping children...?

or HELPING THEMSELVES TO CHILDREN?

Ten of the twelve American missionaries arrested on January 29th on child kidnapping charges in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti were released this week without needing to post bail. Two, including the group's leader, Laura Silsby, remain in Haitian custody.

Questions remain. Something just doesn't smell right.

First of all, they lied to authorities, initially claiming the kids were orphans, when, in fact, the majority of them were not. Then, the "orphanage" in the Dominican Republic where the group was allegedly taking the children turned out to not actually exist. The group had none of the required documentation to take the kids out of the country.

OK, maybe these were actually heroic, sincere Christians following a God-mandated directive to "save the children."

But let's take a closer look at group leader Laura Silsby.

From the New York Times:

• Silsby defaulted last July on the mortgage on a house in an unfinished subdivision in Meridian, a suburb of Boise.

• her business, Personal Shopper, which provides shopping services for Internet customers, have faced multiple legal claims. According to state records and officials, Personal Shopper has been named 14 times in complaints from employees over unpaid wages.

She clearly has serious financial problems.

In completely unrelated news, child trafficking can be a very lucrative business enterprise.

And this:

Who exactly is Jorge Puello, the legal advisor to the Americans? Is he connected with trafficking Central and South American children for purposes of prostitution, or is it all a case of mistaken identity? New York Times story here, and excellent blog commentary here. Still more here.

I dunno. Questions...

thanks to Dave McGowan for getting me thinking...