Adoption Scam (Human Trafficking?) in Arizona/Utah

[smac97]

This is, if proven, very troubling:

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Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen's adoption business practices may run afoul of an international treaty, according to a November 29 article published by Honolulu Civil Beat.

Petersen’s business focuses on babies with mothers from the Marshall Islands, according to the award-winning news site, which published the information as Part Two of a special report called "Black Market Babies." The Civil Beat began investigating the practice of adopting children from the Marshall Islands in 2017, "after connecting with a young Marshallese man whose adoption had, essentially, taken place in the Honolulu airport parking lot."

The trail led reporters John Hill and Emily Dugdale to Petersen, who they deemed "one of the most active Marshallese adoption lawyers." Petersen has adoption practices in Arizona, Arkansas, and Utah.

According to Civil Beat, he regularly arranges for pregnant Marshallese woman to come to the mainland United States, where he puts them up in a split-level house he owns in Utah. His business covers their room and board.

Petersen connects the pregnant women with mostly Mormon families looking to adopt, the site reports. Petersen himself is a Mormon who did missionary work in the Marshall Islands decades ago.
...
Multiple women told Civil Beat that they were recruited to adopt out their babies by fixers hired by Petersen. One Marshallese woman said a relative of a Petersen associate “begged” her to accept a plane ticket from Petersen after she got pregnant in high school. Another birth mother said a fixer for Petersen coerced her into staying in an isolated house in Arkansas. When she fled the house with two friends, she said the fixer threatened to call the police and make them pay their airfare.

I have sometimes complained about news coverage of misconduct committed by members of the Church.  My complaint is that some of these stories place gratuitous emphasis placed on the individual's membership in the Church, when in fact that membership has essentially no bearing on the misconduct.

That is not the case here.  The alleged misconduct pertains to adoptions involving Latter-day Saint families.  Mr. Petersen is himself a member of the Church, and served his mission in the Marshall Islands.  So his membership in the Church is, I think, germane.

More from this article:

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Prosecutors said Petersen and at least two associates recruited dozens of pregnant women from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, paid them to give up their babies for adoption, and charged American families up to $40,000 to adopt each child. Officials said Petersen pocketed approximately $2.7 million over the course of the scheme.

Sigh.  It's almost always about money.  Brigham Young had it right: “The worst fear that I have about [members of this Church] is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches” (quoted in Preston Nibley, Brigham Young: The Man and His Work [1936], 128).

Back to the article:

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Petersen is facing felony charges in Utah and Arizona as well as multiple federal charges. The dozens of charges include human smuggling, sale of a child, communications fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering.

According to investigators in Utah, Petersen is accused of smuggling more than 40 women from the Marshall Islands into the state over a three-year period to have their babies there. In Arizona, Petersen is accused of bringing at least 28 women there to give birth.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich clarified during a news conference on October 9 that the families who adopted the children are not under investigation and did nothing wrong. The Marshallese women are also considered victims and are not being charged.

Here’s what you need to know.

1. Prosecutors Say Paul Petersen & His Associates Bribed Pregnant Marshallese Women to Give Up Their Babies For Adoption
...
2. Large Groups of Pregnant Women Stayed at Properties Petersen Owned In a System Described as a ‘Baby Mill’ By Witnesses
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3. Paul Petersen Has Been Working as an Adoption Attorney Since 2005
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4. Petersen Is a Member of the Mormon Church & Served as a Missionary in the Marshall Islands For Two Years

Paul Petersen is familiar with the Republic of the Marshall Islands because he lived there for two years. Petersen claimed on his bio with the Arizona Bar that he was the “only attorney involved with the Marshallese community in the United States who is fluent in the Marshallese language… Paul lived in the Marshall Islands for two years, and therefore is familiar with their language, customs, and unique cultural perspective on adoption.” Petersen’s Facebook page states that he previously lived in the capital city of Majuro.
...
5. A Treaty Between the U.S. & Marshall Islands Restricting Adoption Was Established to Prevent Marshallese Women From Being Exploited

Under federal law, it is illegal for citizens from the Marshall Islands to travel to the United States for the sole purpose of giving up their babies for adoption. The United States and the Marshall Islands first entered into an agreement called the Compact of Free Association in 1983, as explained in the federal indictment against Petersen.
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Many of the Marshallese women who associated with Petersen reportedly didn’t know that by putting their babies up for adoption, they would sever all ties with the children, according to an investigation by the Honolulu Civil Beat.

So far all of this is from the prosecutors' perspective.  Here is an article that quotes Mr. Petersen's attorney a bit:

Quote

A lawyer for an Arizona elected official charged in three states in an international adoption scheme said Tuesday prosecutors have miscast his client as a human smuggler.

Attorney Matt Long said Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen cares deeply for the mothers from the Marshall Islands whom he connected with adoptive parents in the United States.
...
“This was not human trafficking,” Long said. “That’s going to be borne out by evidence. That’s going to be borne out by the manner in which it will be demonstrated that Mr. Petersen dealt with the birth mothers and the adopted families.”
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A judge in Utah on Tuesday declined to reduce his $3 million bail. The amount was based in part on $2.7 million that authorities say was deposited into an account for adoption fees over several years. Petersen’s Utah attorney, Scott Williams, said much of that money has been spent.

Petersen is currently in federal custody.

There are nearly 30 pending adoptions in Arkansas, Arizona and Utah that were being handled by Petersen’s company, according to court documents.

The women in Utah were “frightened and nervous” after Petersen was arrested, according to an affidavit filed by a special agent with the Utah attorney general’s office. They didn’t have money, cellphones or transportation, prosecutors said.

The agent also said Peterson and his associates would take passports from the Marshallese women while they were in the U.S., which gave him more control over them.
...
Long said he’s looking for another lawyer to represent Petersen because of their friendship and Long’s own deep ties to the Marshallese community, noting he adopted a Marshallese child 20 years ago.

He "cares deeply for the mothers from the Marshall Islands," yet still manages to make millions off of arranging adoptions of their babies.  Those millions would seem to indicate self-interest, not benevolent concern for these Marshallese women, carried the day.

He "cares deeply for the mothers," but then took their passports from them?  (They also apparently did not have any money, cellphones, or transportation.)

Petersen is innocent until proven guilty.  But it seems hard to argue that making millions by flying in Marshallese women to give birth and then hand over their babies was an above-board operation.

-Smac

Edited October 24, 2019 by smac97

[longview]

QUOTE:  "Prosecutors said Petersen and at least two associates recruited dozens of pregnant women from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, paid them to give up their babies for adoption, and charged American families up to $40,000 to adopt each child. Officials said Petersen pocketed approximately $2.7 million over the course of the scheme."

Many families in the US pay $50K or more through the legal processes overseen by various government entities.  So who is the REAL trafficker?

[Duncan]

1 hour ago, longview said:

QUOTE:  "Prosecutors said Petersen and at least two associates recruited dozens of pregnant women from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, paid them to give up their babies for adoption, and charged American families up to $40,000 to adopt each child. Officials said Petersen pocketed approximately $2.7 million over the course of the scheme."

Many families in the US pay $50K or more through the legal processes overseen by various government entities.  So who is the REAL trafficker?

to compare the two i'd say this Petersen joker, I doubt the US Gov't pay people to give up their babies and you said "many" but that means not all and you said they pay for legal fees, which sounds better than some criminal doofus who knows a lot of pregnant women and is making a fast buck off of them

[The Nehor]

55 minutes ago, longview said:

QUOTE:  "Prosecutors said Petersen and at least two associates recruited dozens of pregnant women from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, paid them to give up their babies for adoption, and charged American families up to $40,000 to adopt each child. Officials said Petersen pocketed approximately $2.7 million over the course of the scheme."

Many families in the US pay $50K or more through the legal processes overseen by various government entities.  So who is the REAL trafficker?

Don’t, just don’t play this stupid false equivalency game. Private adoptions (which often cost that much) frequently cover the expenses of the mother having the child, an attorney, various services, adoption insurance, sometimes some extra help for the birth mother, etc. These are the ones that Church and secular groups often get involved in. LDS Social Services used to do this. These are voluntary adoptions and the terms are often negotiable (within limits). The difference between these adoptions and this case is not the money; it is the exploitation of holding women hostage and the coercion used to get them to give up the child.

Adoption from those in actual government care (in foster homes where parents have surrendered or lost parental rights) is actually incredibly cheap or even free. If you adopt a child from the foster system you are just very unlikely to get babies which is what most people want. If you get a kid from foster care the government will usually fund all or most of the adoption costs and will sometimes give you maintenance money to take care of them. Many also come with government funded health care until they are an adult. Some even get free tuition and board at any state university. The best way to get an infant or toddler at this “rate” (a little crass to describe it that way) is to become a foster parent for younger kids and be willing to adopt if parental rights are terminated.

There are plenty of reasons to insult the government but don’t throw our already underfunded foster and family court system under the bus for a cheap dig of: “Har, har! Stupid government selling kids!” This kind of ignorant misinformation is why these programs can barely function due to lack of funding. This generation (speaking generally and not specifically) is going to have a lot to answer for in the “How did you treat orphans” portion of the Final Judgement.

[The Nehor]

I should add that there is one exception. Adopting a hospice baby is another way of adopting a young child. Very few though are up for adopting a terminally ill child due to the obvious emotional complications.

This guy and those like him are some of my heroes: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-foster-father-sick-children-2017-story.html

[MiserereNobis]

38 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

I should add that there is one exception. Adopting a hospice baby is another way of adopting a young child. Very few though are up for adopting a terminally ill child due to the obvious emotional complications.

This guy and those like him are some of my heroes: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-foster-father-sick-children-2017-story.html

Wow, that story really moved me. Thank you for sharing.

[ttribe]

This article has some additional detail: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2019/10/09/arizona-ag-paul-petersen-flew-pregnant-women-marshall-islands-mesa/3920125002/

A couple of items of note:

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Eight pregnant Marshallese women were found in a residence in Mesa on Tuesday night when Department of Public Safety troopers executed a search warrant, according to DPS Director Frank Milstead.

Shoving 8 pregnant women into a single house sure doesn't mesh with the defense's version of the story; kind of has the hallmark of human smuggling.

Quote

It's also illegal to scam Arizona's Medicaid system, which Brnovich alleges Petersen did when he helped these women illegally access state-funded medical benefits to the tune of $814,000...Shortly before the women gave birth, Petersen or his associates assisted her in signing up for Medicaid benefits, falsely stating they were Arizona residents.

If nothing else, the Medicaid benefits scheme is fraudulent.

Edited October 24, 2019 by ttribe

[Duncan]

My guess is he'd be excommunicated for this 

[topcougar]

I had the same reaction as SMAC when I read this story. This looks really bad.   It is difficult to make $2.7 million in profit over ten years doing  routine legitimate adoptions.   it is possible that the $2.7 is gross income, not profit,  and that  some or many of these adoptions were legitimate.  It could  also be that the actual profit from the illegal ( I assume  based on the article)  enterprise is  much less. Prosecutors often exaggerate the extent of ill gotten gains, but if Peterson really had $2.7 in taxable income from doing adoptions, it raises a lot of red flags for me. 

[topcougar]

13 minutes ago, Duncan said:

My guess is he'd be excommunicated for this 

If he is convicted of medicare fraud or adoption fraud some church discipline would be indicated. It is hard to understand what his explanation will be. He was apparently not striving to be honest in his dealings. It reflects poorly on the good name of the Church. If he makes  a plea agreement and makes restitution, he might avoid excommunication. We will never know the  what is actually considered in his Disciplinary Council and that is as it should be. 

[Robert F. Smith]

3 hours ago, smac97 said:

.........................Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen..................

Maricopa County.  Hmmmmm.  Isn't that the same county which kept Sheriff Joe Arapio in power for so long?  Contempt for the law is standard procedure in Maricopa County.  Joe even got a presidential pardon.

[The Nehor]

38 minutes ago, ttribe said:

This article has some additional detail: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2019/10/09/arizona-ag-paul-petersen-flew-pregnant-women-marshall-islands-mesa/3920125002/

A couple of items of note:

Shoving 8 pregnant women into a single house sure doesn't mesh with the defense's version of the story; kind of has the hallmark of human smuggling.

If nothing else, the Medicaid benefits scheme is fraudulent.

Yeah, the usual costs for private adoption are mostly to compensate the mom and cover the delivery and often pay room and board for part or all of the pregnancy. Paying $40,000 so they can be crowded together into a single house and a lawyer can buy a McMansion means said lawyer is a slimeball and will probably burn in hell. His lawyer’s defense seems laughable.

Adoption attorneys usually make around $60k to $70k a year and he is not charging much above market for an adoption. Something has got to give for him to be making that kind of money that quickly. That thing was compensation for the mother.

[The Nehor]

3 minutes ago, Robert F. Smith said:

Maricopa County.  Hmmmmm.  Isn't that the same county which kept Sheriff Joe Arapio in power for so long?  Contempt for the law is standard procedure in Maricopa County.  Joe even got a presidential pardon.

Yep, and he just announced he is now going to run for sheriff again. We are living in bizarro world.

[ttribe]

8 minutes ago, Robert F. Smith said:

Maricopa County.  Hmmmmm.  Isn't that the same county which kept Sheriff Joe Arapio in power for so long?  Contempt for the law is standard procedure in Maricopa County.  Joe even got a presidential pardon.

 

2 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

Yep, and he just announced he is now going to run for sheriff again. We are living in bizarro world.

[sigh]  He's delusional.  He's not getting re-elected.

Disclosure - I live in Maricopa County.

[The Nehor]

2 minutes ago, ttribe said:

 

[sigh]  He's delusional.  He's not getting re-elected.

Disclosure - I live in Maricopa County.

Thank you for reassuring me of that. I was not sure how local sentiment ran.

[ttribe]

36 minutes ago, topcougar said:

If he is convicted of medicare fraud or adoption fraud some church discipline would be indicated. It is hard to understand what his explanation will be. He was apparently not striving to be honest in his dealings. It reflects poorly on the good name of the Church. If he makes  a plea agreement and makes restitution, he might avoid excommunication. We will never know the  what is actually considered in his Disciplinary Council and that is as it should be. 

Note his prominent use of a quad at his swearing in as County Assessor...he's definitely been playing up his Church membership to promote his "business" and his image.

[ttribe]

22 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

Thank you for reassuring me of that. I was not sure how local sentiment ran.

The population of Maricopa County is now at approximately 4.3M and is one of the fastest growing counties in the country.  With all of that growth has come a significant change in demographics that is profoundly changing the landscape here; it is no longer the ultra-conservative political enclave it once was.

Edited October 24, 2019 by ttribe

[Duncan]

41 minutes ago, ttribe said:

Note his prominent use of a quad at his swearing in as County Assessor...he's definitely been playing up his Church membership to promote his "business" and his image.

if there was a boke emoji I would use it a thousand times over

[Thinking]

I can't even imagine the emotional and mental scars that the birth mothers most likely have. Using one's church membership to operate something like this is awful.

[ttribe]

27 minutes ago, Duncan said:

if there was a boke emoji I would use it a thousand times over

If i understand what "boke" means, this one should do - 🤮

[cinepro]

This is an interesting podcast on a similar situation from a few years back.  It's well worth a listen.

(Act Two)
 

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Reporter Ted Gesing interviews Mike Nyberg about adopting a little girl from Samoa, only to learn over time that her Samoan family had no intention of giving her up for adoption. The US adoption agency had told the Nybergs that their adoption would be closed, and that their little girl Elleia had been living in a foster home waiting for adoptive parents; but in Samoa, Elleia's parents were told that their daughter could come to the US and receive a better education, and that the adoptive family would send money and regular updates on their daughter's progress. The whole situation leaves the Nybergs trying to find their way through sticky moral territory. (31 minutes)

 

[The Nehor]

42 minutes ago, Thinking said:

I can't even imagine the emotional and mental scars that the birth mothers most likely have. Using one's church membership to operate something like this is awful.

I have a rule of thumb that any business that blatantly wears its owner’s religion on its sleeve should be avoided. Same applies double to anyone who says you should be able to trust them because of it. Always be wary of those willing to commercialize their faith. I have found that over half the time they are professing to serve God in order to serve mammon.

Note: I grant a limited exception to charitable organizations, businesses owned by literal churches, and businesses that explicitly cater to that demographic for a good reason (LDS food storage business, Jewish kosher grocery, etc.)

[Duncan]

47 minutes ago, ttribe said:

If i understand what "boke" means, this one should do - 🤮

two thumbs up!

[Anijen]

I am very familiar with the case. I served my mission in the Marshall Islands. I am still fluent in the language. I know many of the people involved and others.

Here are a few things:

• Marshallese people have always looked very highly toward Americans and see them as very rich and very educated, and they are compared to a Marshallese standard.
• They have always had a tradition of their form of adoption among their own family and other islanders. No paperwork, no bureaucracy.
• Missionaries coming home are often asked to take their children and raise them in the U.S. (some missionaries do after they have been released). 
• The Marshallese who were born before 1985, are allowed instant access into the country without applying for a VISA because they would be considered U.S. citizens and those born after it is very easy to get in due to the Compact Free Association.
• This is part of reparations given them because the U.S. forcibly removed them off two atolls (islands) and blew those islands up (67 nuclear bombs were tested on Eniwetok and Bikini Atolls) (now you know the backstory of Sponge Bob and Bikini Bottom). You still cannot live there this day, too radioactive.
• I know of two return missionaries who have adopted Marshallese children (the legal way) and have also dabbled in the adoption business.
• Because of custom, people like Peterson are trusted by the Marshallese.
• Peterson took advantage of these customs, traditions, and trust and illegally made these adoptions, purely for profit.
• I can only assume the mothers allowed the adoptions because they trusted missionaries in the past.

 

Peterson is vile, evil scum and should be prosecuted to the utmost possibility.

[2BizE]

This guys father was also an elected official and was forced to resign of a different criminal problem.  I’m too busy to find a link though...