To catch a baby broker

Did you see Dateline and the story of the baby brokers. They described the adoption process in Florida Guatemala as an adoption paradise due to how quickly they can occur.

Until recently, the system was run not by the government, but by private enterprise, for profit. And that, critics say, created a paradise for fraud....

...Manuel Manrique, UNICEF: We are seeing all kinds of things happening to children, like kidnappings.

Manuel Manrique heads the Guatemala office of UNICEF - the United Nations Children’s Fund. He says while not all Guatemalan adoptions are corrupt, baby snatching, extortion and pay-offs have turned the country into a virtual baby farm.

What would we do if it happened in the U.S.? Seal the records?

Sentenced

Allison Quets was sentenced today.U.S. District Court Judge James Dever III fined Quets $15,000 and sentenced her to five years of probation according to WRAL.

Canadian Parental abduction

Aunt pleads for safe return of missing Toronto girl

The aunt and legal guardian of a five-year-old Toronto girl who police say was abducted by her parents two weeks ago is pleading for the child's safe return.

Police say Peter and Vivena Livas took their daughter Alana from a Children's Aid Society office in Toronto on Nov. 29 without permission.

toronto.ctv.ca

Missing Alana Livas poster

Swift justice

A Lawrence County man who kidnapped his adopted son in 2004 and took him to Mexico was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge David S. Cercone to time served.

William Pearsall Jr., 49, of Ellwood City was arrested in December 2004 in Cancun and charged with international parental kidnapping. He was released on bond when he pleaded guilty in July. In addition to time served, Pearsall will spend a year on supervised release Pittsburg Tribune-Review

P.S. That's Friday as in November 2, 2007

Credit for time served....

Remember Mary Ann Barcaro, the jailed grandmother who went
From Fame to France to a Florida Judge?

Kids happily go home with Mom-Mom

They've had only weekly contact since august But Mary Ann Barcaro regained custody of her grandchildren under a new court agreement.

YULEE - Grinning faces marked the end of seven months of uncertainty Friday for a brother and sister whose grandmother spent four months in jail rather than bring them back from France in a dispute over custody.

The youngsters were surprised when they learned they could go home with Mary Ann Barcaro, whom they call Mom-Mom. Barcaro, 73, and her husband have had custody of the youngsters since 2002 but got in trouble with the courts after taking the children to Europe in 2006.

Update 12-11-07 By Dana Treen, The Times-Union

Another twist for mangled custody case A Nassau County grandmother again loses custody of two kids.

To persecute or prosecute

The Criminal Justice System's issued this Response to Parental Abduction in the Juvenile Justice Bulletin • December 2001 You may find yourself asking what makes her case so unique based on this criteria.

The criteria for filing a criminal complaint varied between jurisdictions. The following factors were among those identified by prosecutors as influencing their decisions to prosecute:

• The child and/or abductor could not be located, or the abducting party refused to return the child.

• The custodial interference was for a permanent or protracted period (e.g., 2 to 3 months).

• The abductor crossed State lines or fled the country.

• A custody or visitation order had been violated.

• Evidence existed of repetitive criminal conduct on the part of the perpetrator.

In most sites, offenders were rarely extradited. One explanation was the expense involved in extraditing the abductor, especially if he or she were in a distant location. Extradition was more likely to occur in jurisdictions in which prosecutors' offices had a unit employing staff who specialized in parental abduction cases.

The majority of cases filed in all six jurisdictions resulted in plea bargains or dismissals. Individuals convicted of custodial interference usually received probation with conditions (e.g., they had to pay restitution to the victim, attend parenting skills classes, or stay away from the victimized child). Jail time was extremely rare. It appeared that defendants were incarcerated, either prior to or after a conviction, only when they refused to disclose a child's whereabouts.

Contempt?

Mary Ann Barcaro serves four months for a contempt charge yet Mike Nifong will serve one day? Is this justice served?

DURHAM, N.C. -- Former Durham County district attorney Mike Nifong was set to report to jail Friday morning to serve a 24-hour sentence for criminal contempt. He was scheduled to show up at 9 a.m.