Adoption Scam (Human Trafficking?) in Arizona/Utah

[smac97]

From this article:

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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.

Flying Marshallese women into Utah, and then having them situated without "money, cellphones or transportation" sounds pretty darn suspicious.

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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.

Taking their passports is hugely suspicious.  This is what human traffickers do.  I have a hard time conceptualizing any legitimate/lawful reason for Petersen and those working with him to confiscate the passports of these women.

See also this article:

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For the first time, we are hearing from some of the pregnant Marshallese women who are part of a far-reaching adoption fraud scheme allegedly run by Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen .

Seven Marshallese mothers and their multiple young children, crammed into two east valley apartments. They're pregnant and alone, caught in the middle of an international adoption scandal.

Stuff like this just does not seem to be on the up and up.

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With the help of a local pastor who translated their words, the women expressed the abandonment they feel after Paul Petersen's promises amounted to lies.

"They were promised that it would be an open adoption, until they're children are 18, that their kids will come here and grow up in the United States and be able to provide for their families back home," said the women.Words that couldn't be further from the truth. As roaches crawl across the floor, the women talk about running out of food and money. Their thoughts constantly returning to their unborn children.

Petersen promised open adoptions.  Were these promises being kept?

Petersen promised the Marshallese women that their children, after given up for adoption, would "grow up in the United States and be able to provide for their famlies back home."  Did Petersen make promises pertaining to ongoing financial support to the Marshallese women from the children they were giving up for adoption?

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We asked how they were approached regarding adopting out their children through Petersen.

"Someone from home, they were previously here and adopted their kids and they went and recruited them," said the women. "They were promised that they will get paid, they would be well taken care of, they will have their cars and all that."

Hmm.

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All seven are due to give birth in the next four months. Their phones, passports, and other documents seized during Petersen's arrest. They say they were never threatened by Petersen or his associates but at least three of the women have decided to keep their babies.

I'm glad to hear them saying they were not threatened.  This does not remove the possibility of coercion, though.

Thanks,

-Smac

[smac97]

33 minutes ago, Bob Crockett said:

I condemn accusations against Peterson withOut complaining witnesses!!

The "complaining witnesses" being pregnant women from an impoverished country who were apparently promised thousands of dollars, open adoptions, ongoing financial support from their children, etc.?  Who were crammed into apartments (7 women and their children in 2 apartments)?  Who had no money or transportation?  Whose passports may have been taken by Petersen and those working with him?  Who are likely scared and confused and unfamiliar with the applicable laws?  Who may have been traumatized by all of what has happened?

Might folks who find themselves in such circumstances be disinclined to speak against the man who made all those promises, made all the arrangements, gave them some money, etc.?  Might they be scared of what is going to happen to them?  Might all of these unknowns, and all the fear arising therefrom, render these folks concerned about speaking publicly?

There are still a lot of unknowns in this story.  That said, a lot of the "knowns" look pretty bad.

Thanks,

-Smac

Edited November 21, 2019 by smac97

[Bob Crockett]

2 hours ago, smac97 said:

The "complaining witnesses" being pregnant women from an impoverished country who were apparently promised thousands of dollars, open adoptions, ongoing financial support from their children, etc.?  Who were crammed into apartments (7 women and their children in 2 apartments)?  Who had no money or transportation?  Whose passports may have been taken by Petersen and those working with him?  Who are likely scared and confused and unfamiliar with the applicable laws?  Who may have been traumatized by all of what has happened?

Might folks who find themselves in such circumstances be disinclined to speak against the man who made all those promises, made all the arrangements, gave them some money, etc.?  Might they be scared of what is going to happen to them?  Might all of these unknowns, and all the fear arising therefrom, render these folks concerned about speaking publicly?

There are still a lot of unknowns in this story.  That said, a lot of the "knowns" look pretty bad.

Thanks,

-Smac

Your answer is filled with speculation.  No evidence at all.  I'm surprise this matter is going foward.

Edited November 21, 2019 by Bob Crockett

[smac97]

1 minute ago, Bob Crockett said:

Oh, I guess you have complaining witnesses who have identified themselves and come forward.  Women. 

I am not persuaded that news outlets have access to the entirety of the evidence accumulated by law enforcement.

1 minute ago, Bob Crockett said:

"There are still a lot of unknowns in this story."  Oh, i guess that now passes for evidence. 

We are a bunch of bystanders discussing this topic on a message board, utilizing information provided through news outlets, and without access to the entirety of information and evidence collected by law enforcement, about an investigation that is only a few weeks old and is still ongoing.

1 minute ago, Bob Crockett said:

I thought it didn't but you keep bringing it up so it must. 

Really, I must now eat crow.

Again, there are still a lot of unknowns in this story.  That said, a lot of the "knowns" look pretty bad.

Thanks,

-Smac

[Calm]

7 hours ago, Bob Crockett said:

Is it really true that these women are padlocked in their rooms?  That’s wrong.  What woman says that?

From Nehor’s post (did you read the news article linked to or are you just responding to posts here?):

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“This door was padlocked shut,” Alana Maybe said, pointing to a downstairs bedroom door. “The two bedrooms upstairs were padlocked shut as well.”

 

Alana Maybe bought the four-bedroom, two-bath home from Petersen in May.

 

“It just makes me really uncomfortable,” Maybe said.

 

When she moved in, she found locks on the outside of every bedroom, another locked door down to the basement and garbage piled high outside.

 

“We started getting neighbors that would tell us that there was a lot of women coming in and out of this house and they thought they were using it as an adoption agency,” Maybe said.

 

“The home wasn’t well kept,” neighbor Angie Rollins said. “There was usually people out and about in the house or in the yard. They would hang out in the yard a lot.”

 

Investigators said the pregnant women were sleeping on mattresses on a bare floor. At least 40 women were told they’d get $10,000 in exchange for placing their baby for adoption, but prosecutors say very few of them actually received that money.