Samoan adoption scandal: Moms make most of chance to reconnect
kippah...@hotmail.com
Moms make most of chance to reconnect
Adoption scandal » They hope victims will get same opportunity after
sentencing today.
By Pamela Manson
The Salt Lake Tribune
02/24/2009
Years after she placed her daughter for adoption through the Focus on
Children agency, Jennifer Tellam, of Samoa, was finally able to talk
to the girl again.
Updates from adoptive mother, Susie Buskirk, on her daughter and
photos she receives reassure her she made the right decision.
"She's doing so fine in America," said Tellam in a phone interview
from her home in the Pacific Island nation. "She has a good life
there."
Yet Tellam and Buskirk know theirs is an exceptional situation -- many
parents who adopted through the now-defunct Utah agency say they were
deceived into giving up their children when they were told they would
be placed temporarily in the United States and return at age 18 after
being educated.
Both women and federal prosecutors hope that other Samoan parents will
soon have the same opportunity to reconnect after a federal judge
sentences agency operators Karen and Scott Banks today.
The Bankses and three employees of the Wellsville agency will be
paying into a trust fund to help facilitate communication between
birth parents and adoptive parents. The provision is part of a plea
deal reached to resolve criminal charges brought against them in 2007.
Details of the fund are expected to be released after today's
sentencing.
Tellam, a struggling single mother, placed her daughter for adoption
when she was 6. The mother, who speaks English, said she understood
the adoption was permanent. Still, she is grateful for the contact
with Grace, who will turn 13 in April.
The two women have been in touch for the past year and a half, since
Buskirk was given Tellam's phone number by the Department of Homeland
Security, which helped investigate the FOC case.
Tellam now is caring for three girls who needed a home after the
closure of a "nanny house," a facility where FOC placed children
waiting for their adoptions to be completed. The closing was prompted
by the death of a child there; her parents said they found her in
deplorable conditions.
Buskirk said she is glad her daughter has a connection with her Samoan
roots and an understanding from her birth mother why she was placed
for adoption.
Buskirk said she and her now-ex-husband had some misgivings but
couldn't prove anything was wrong with the adoption proceedings. They
adopted an unrelated girl and boy through FOC on the same trip to
Samoa seven years ago, Grace and Tanielu, now 14.
The couple met Tellam and members of her extended family but were
under the impression they weren't allowed to have contact with them
after the adoption. Buskirk said she refused to leave the island until
she was assured by Tellam that she understood what the adoption meant.
So far, she has not made contact with the birth family of Tanielu, who
was one of 17 children, Buskirk said. However, Tellam recently was
able to find his mother and might be able to rely information to her.
The children are A students and now assimilated Americans, according
to Buskirk. If she had the financial ability, she would take them back
to their birth place for a visit. Tellam would welcome seeing them.
"If she wishes to visit, that's good," she said.
pma...@sltrib.com
kippah...@hotmail.com
Judge has mercy on Samoan adoption scam defendants; no prison time
By Pamela Manson And Steve Gehrke
The Salt Lake Tribune
02/25/2009
A judge on Wednesday rejected pleas from adoptive parents to order
jail time for four people prosecutors say helped trick Samoan parents
into giving up their children through the now-defunct Focus on
Children agency.
U.S. District Judge David Sam instead sentenced the four to five years
of probation, said they could never again engage in the adoption
business, and ordered them to contribute to a trust fund to help
adopted children stay in touch with their birth families.
Among other things, the fund will help set up post-office boxes in
Samoa so parents can receive letters and photos from their children
and adoptive families. Details about the payments and specifics of the
fund will be hashed out over the coming 45 days.
In handing down the sentences, Sam said the case "cries out for a
sentence that's restorative rather than punitive."
"We don't want to put these people in prison and have them kept from
doing anything," the judge said. "They can address the interests of
the children to restore the damage that has been done."
Though he called the adoption case "particularly offensive" and "the
most difficult and unique" his department has seen in a long time,
U.S. Attorney for the Utah District Brett Tolman said a drawn-out case
focusing on punishment would have been "catastrophic" for the adoptive
parents, birth parents and children.
"We could have sent them to jail," Tolman said. "But those interests
had to take a back seat to the interests of the children."
Tolman said the birth parents whom his office spoke with had already
forgiven the defendants and did not want the defendants imprisoned.
Jonathan Lines, assistant special agent with Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, said stories he heard from parents who had been deceived
and lied to were heartbreaking.
"I hope I'm never again witness to such hurtful actions," he said.
Adoptive parent Mike Nyberg said in court the penalty "should be far
greater than a slap on the hands."
Following the decision on Wednesday afternoon, Nyberg said the fact
that the Focus on Children people would never be able to work in
adoption again was enough of a punishment for him.
Nyberg recounted the day he and his then-wife picked up their new
daughter, Elleia, from a plane that landed in New Zealand. The
devastated 4-year-old had messy hair and scabies, and was clutching
Samoan coins and a small basketball, he said.
The couple were told the basketball and coins were going-away gifts
given by her Samoan parents, but Nyberg said he later learned his
daughter was taken from her birth parents under false pretenses and
bribed with the gifts to keep quiet. Elleia was taken from her home
with the promise that she would be returned to her parents the next
day -- instead she was flown away from Samoa.
Nyberg said Elleia, now 7, is again living with her birth parents in
Samoa. He considers them family, but he said Elleia may eventually
return.
Elizabeth and Gary Muenzler, who adopted a Samoan girl through FOC,
told Sam both the adoptive and birth families involved had been put in
their own "personal prison."
Turning to face the defendants as she read a prepared statement,
Elizabeth Muenzler said her daughter has lost years of her childhood
due to post-traumatic stress disorder. She called the defendants liars
and criminals and said she was unsure she could ever forgive them.
"The betrayal is unfathomable," Muenzler said. "Lord knows, if anyone
deserves jail time, it's you."
She added that she prays that someday the defendants will have to
answer to all of the Samoan children in person.
However, many adoptive parents wrote letters in support of the
defendants. Rod Young, a Pleasant Grove man who adopted a son through
FOC, told the judge at the sentencing hearing that his experience with
the agency was wonderful. He said that parents who adopted older
children have to expect attachment disorder problems and that overall,
the adoptees are better off.
An attorney for 46-year-old Focus on Children manager Karen Banks said
Banks "suffered the most because she cares."
Tolman said he was not pleased with that statement and called it a
"disservice to the clients, community and victims."
Sentenced were Karen Banks, on five counts; Scott Banks, 47, who also
held a management position at the agency, five counts; Coleen
Bartlett, 52, who, among other duties, facilitated the adoption of
Samoan children, two counts; and Karalee Thornock, 36, who served as a
Pacific Islands case worker, one count.
Focus on Children itself, which entered a guilty plea to a felony
count of conspiracy through its court-appointed defense attorney, was
ordered to pay $400 in special assessment fees.
A fifth defendant, Dan Wakefield, who helped locate children in Samoa
to be placed for adoption, has pleaded guilty to five counts of the
misdemeanor and will be sentenced next month.
Prosecutors accused the five of conspiring to arrange adoptions that
violated U.S. immigration laws, and alleged the scheme included lying
to Samoan birth parents and American adoptive parents. As part of a
plea bargain with the U.S. Attorney's Office, all five pleaded guilty
to aiding and abetting the illegal entry of an alien, a misdemeanor.
Dozens of felony charges against them were dropped, and prosecutors
recommended probation. Wakefield is expected to get the same sentence
as the others.
In addition to contributing to the trust fund, the plea deal calls for
Scott and Karen Banks to:
» Participate through their attorneys in a news conference where they
will talk about the case to educate the public and others who might be
engaged in similar conduct.
» Meet with prosecutors and the State Department to provide
information on FOC's adoption practices in Samoa, Guatemala and other
countries to see if adjustments need to be made in U.S. laws.
» Relinquish all rights in adoption documents, photographs and other
papers related to Samoan adoptions.
Jini Roby, an associate professor of social work at Brigham Young
University, has agreed to direct the trust fund for free. The amounts
each defendant must put into the trust fund have yet to be determined.
A federal grand jury issued an indictment in early 2007 accusing the
defendants of a total of 135 counts of conspiracy, fraud and
immigration violations. The charges covered the period between March
2002 and June 2005 and specifically involved the adoptions of 37
children by U.S. families.
Samoan parents said relatives or friends pushed a program -- often
described as affiliated with the LDS Church -- that would educate
children in the United States and return them at age 18. The agency
allegedly charged the adoptive parents a fee of $13,000 to facilitate
the adoption and immigration of a Samoan child.
U.S. immigration laws required the children to be orphans, defined as
abandoned by both parents or left with one parent who cannot provide
care.
Charges are still pending against two defendants, Samoan citizens
Tagaloa Ieti and Julie Tuiletufuga, whom the United States has been
unable to extradite.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has said it has no
connection to FOC. But the alleged claim was a selling point for FOC
in Samoa, where about 30 percent of the population is Mormon.
The case has led to a call for reform involving international
adoptions. To stem abuses, experts are pushing for national adoption
laws to replace a patchwork of state laws; limiting the amount of
money involved in the adoption of foreign children to prevent human
trafficking; and making U.S. agencies responsible for the actions of
their overseas contractors.
kippah...@hotmail.com
Unbelievable. What a travesty. And get this: "But Judge Sam and
prosecutors, who had recommended probation as part of a plea deal,
said they focused on having the defendants contribute to a fund set up
for the benefit of the adopted children and provide information to
investigators rather than jail time. *Among other things, prosecutors
said the fund will help set up post-office boxes in Samoa so birth
parents can receive letters and photos from their children -- but only
if the adoptive families decide to initiate contact.*"
Huh?
http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_11782689
No jail time in adoption-fraud case
Focus on Children » In a plea deal, four defendants get probation and
are banned for life from the business.
By Pamela Manson And Steve Gehrke
The Salt Lake Tribune
Posted: 02/25/2009
Standing in front of the people she blamed for almost destroying her
family, Elizabeth Muenzler on Wednesday clutched a photo of her
adopted Samoan daughter and struggled to relate the depth of her
suffering.
"There are no words to describe the disgust and disdain I have for
you," Muenzler told defendants as a judge considered how to punish
operators and employees of the now-defunct Focus on Children adoption
agency. "Lord knows, if anyone deserves jail time, it's you."
After hearing Muenzler's plea and from other parents who either
condemned or supported agency operators Scott and Karen Banks, U.S.
District Judge David Sam sentenced the couple and two others connected
to the agency to five years of probation and banned them for life from
the adoption business.
Prosecutors alleged Samoan parents were tricked into giving up their
children as relatives or friends pushed a program that would educate
children in the United States and return them at age 18. Advocates for
stricter regulation of international adoption, such as Kimberly
Kennedy, a board member of PEAR (Parents for Ethical Adoption Reform),
criticized Wednesday's sentence as "appalling to say the least."
But Judge Sam and prosecutors, who had recommended probation as part
of a plea deal, said they focused on having the defendants contribute
to a fund set up for the benefit of the adopted children and provide
information to investigators rather than jail time. Among other
things, prosecutors said the fund will help set up post-office boxes
in Samoa so birth parents can receive letters and photos from their
children -- but only if the adoptive families decide to initiate
contact.
The amount of the payments and specifics on the fund's operation will
be hashed out over the coming 45 days. Jini Roby, an associate
professor of social work at Brigham Young University, has agreed to
direct the trust fund for free.
And although he called the adoption case "particularly offensive" and
the "most difficult and unique" case his office has seen in a long
time, U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman on Wednesday spoke in favor
of the plea agreement his office reached with the defendants that
recommended no jail time.
Tolman said a drawn-out case focusing on punishment would have been
"catastrophic" for the adoptive parents, birth parents and children.
Tolman also said the birth parents reached by his office did not want
prison time for those connected to FOC, and many had already forgiven
them. A spokeswoman said the office discussed the plea deal with 25 of
the Samoan families, many of which had placed three to five children
with FOC.
Sentenced for aiding and abetting the illegal entry of an alien, a
misdemeanor, were: Karen Banks, 48, on five counts; Scott Banks, 47,
who also held a management position at the agency, on five counts;
Coleen Bartlett, 52, who, among other duties, facilitated the adoption
of Samoan children, on two counts; and Karalee Thornock, 36, who
served as a Pacific Islands case worker, on one count.
Focus on Children itself, which entered a guilty plea to a felony
count of conspiracy through its court-appointed defense attorney, was
ordered to pay $400 in special assessment fees.
A fifth defendant, Dan Wakefield, who helped locate children in Samoa
to be placed for adoption, has pleaded guilty to five counts of the
misdemeanor and will be sentenced next month. He is expected to get
the same sentence as the others.
In addition to contributing to the trust fund, the plea deal calls for
Scott and Karen Banks to:
» Participate through their attorneys in a news conference to educate
the public and others who might be engaged in similar conduct about
their case.
» Meet with prosecutors and the State Department to provide
information on FOC's adoption practices in Samoa, Guatemala and other
countries to see if adjustments need to be made in U.S. laws.
» Relinquish all rights to adoption documents, photographs and other
papers related to Samoan adoptions.
In handing down the terms of probation, Sam made note of the unrelated
Washington state case of Lauryn Galindo, who was accused of falsifying
immigration documents to make it appear that Cambodian children placed
for adoption through her agency were abandoned.
Galindo, who charged large fees and spent the money on lavish personal
items, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, he said.
On the other hand, Focus on Children reinvested $750,000 of its income
in foreign orphanages and humanitarian services, the judge said in
comparing the punishments in the two cases.
Attorneys for Scott and Karen Banks on Wednesday described them as
caring people who wanted to help children. Karen Banks is pained some
parents might not have understood what was happening, said her
attorney, Rebecca Skordas.
"Mistakes were made and people have suffered. One of the people who
have suffered the most is Karen," she said.
Charges are still pending against two defendants, Samoan citizens
Tagaloa Ieti and Julie Tuiletufuga, whom the United States has been
unable to extradite.
Jonathan Lines, assistant special agent with Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, said at a news conference after Wednesday's sentencing
that the stories he heard from parents who had been deceived and lied
to were heartbreaking.
"I hope I'm never again witness to such hurtful actions," he said.
kippah...@hotmail.com
Link to an earlier installment to the Scott and Karen Banks scandal
telling how they adopted a brother and sister from Romania, sent them
to live in American Samoa (citing "failure to bond" as the reason),
and claiming they're withholding documentation necessary for them to
confirm their identities so they can get passports, etc.
kippah...@hotmail.com
http://www.samoaobserver.ws/index.php?view=article&id=957:adopted-children-stuck-in-pago&option=com_content&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50
Adopted children stuck in Pago
Written by Pamela Manson, The Salt Lake Tribune
Tuesday, 11 November 2008 14:09
Salvation Meauli, who now lives in American Samoa, says her adoptive
parents in Utah have refused to provide the documentation she and her
brother need to prove their identities and get passports. Meauli says
they are unable to leave the island.
Found starving in a Romanian orphanage, Salvation Meauli and her
brother were taken to Utah as babies - the first of several children
adopted by Scott and Karen Banks.
But at age nine, Meauli and her brother were sent to live in American
Samoa. The Bankses cited problems including failure to bond.
“I was actually excited and felt free for the first time in a long
time,” Meauli, now 18, said of the move.
“I am finally surrounded by people who love and adore me for who I
am.”
Yet Meauli says the Bankses, charged in an unrelated matter with
arranging fraudulent adoptions of Samoan children, have refused to
provide documentation she and her brother need to prove their
identities and begin their adult lives.
With no birth certificates or adoption papers, the siblings are unable
to get driver licenses or passports.
Although Meauli wants to attend Brigham Young University-Hawaii,
without a Social Security number, she can’t even fill out an
application.
“Right now we only want our passports done so that we can travel and
finally be normal,” Meauli said.
“I have not left this island ever since I set foot on it.”
Attempts to contact Scott and Karen Banks through their attorneys for
comment were unsuccessful.
TRIAL
The couple’s history with Meauli became public at a 1st District Court
trial in February over whether they or another couple should get
custody of a 4-year-old girl from China. The Bankses, who already had
eight children - two biological, three adopted from Romania and three
adopted from Russia - wanted to add the child to their family.
But Curry and Mary Frances Kirkpatrick, of Overland Park, Kan., say
they arranged to adopt the child through Focus on Children, an agency
operated by the Bankses.
They say they placed her temporarily with the couple when they needed
respite care.
The Bankses claim the Kirkpatricks abandoned her. Lawyer Steve
Kuhnhausen, who represents the Kirkpatricks, argued the Bankses’
history with their adopted children - including Meauli and her brother
- made them unsuitable parents.
Meauli and her brother, named Auriel and Ethan Banks by the Bankses,
were sent to American Samoa in 2000, Kuhnhausen said.
Then, two years later, the other Romanian child the Bankses adopted,
who has cerebral palsy and is now 17, was placed in a care facility in
Orem.
Scott Banks testified that the boy had become too big for Karen to
lift and help with daily living activities. He said Auriel and Ethan
had severe behavioral problems, including being abusive toward their
siblings.
At the time, the family was living in Wyoming and there were few
services available to help them with their specific problems, Banks
said. Neither Ethan nor Auriel bonded with him and his wife as they
got older, he said.
“We were naive thinking that love would take care of all problems,”
Banks said.
He testified he and his wife sent them to American Samoa and agreed to
pay a friend $500 a month until they reached adulthood.
NO ATTACHMENT
Karen Banks, who found the three Romanian orphans, testified she has
not seen or spoken to Auriel and Ethan since they left because she
didn’t want to interfere with them bonding with their new family.
“They didn’t have an attachment to me,” she said. “They would have
walked away with anyone.”
Judge Stanton Taylor granted custody of the Chinese child to the
Bankses but delayed allowing the couple to adopt the girl until the
criminal charges against them are resolved. The Kirkpatricks have
appealed that custody decision to the Utah Court of Appeals.
Cathy Cevering, a North Logan visitation supervisor who learned about
Auriel and Ethan through the 1st District case, tracked down the two
through an online search. She has spent months trying to obtain their
records for them but so far has been unable to find anything,
including a record of Auriel and Ethan’s entry into the United States
or adoption papers, she said. Meauli said Scott Banks recently e-
mailed her a Social Security number but she has never received the
card itself. She and Cevering have been unable to confirm that the
number is really hers.
Meauli said she loves her American Samoan family and claims the
Bankses “never really showed real compassion towards us.”
She and Ethan, who were born to different parents but whose adoption
made them siblings, are close, “like PB&J,” she said.
Despite living in the Samoan culture for years, Meauli is a typical
American teen in many ways. She has a blog, loves Harry Potter and
likes hanging out with friends. With excellent grades, she’s ready to
take the next step in her life.
“I want to be a vet when I grow up,” she said. “I love animals so
much.”
SAMOA ADOPTION
A federal grand jury issued an indictment in 2007 charging Focus on
Children agency operators Karen and Scott Banks and five agency
employees with fraud and immigration violations.
The indictment alleges the defendants tricked Samoan birth parents
into putting their children up for adoption. The defendants have
denied the allegations and are free pending trial.
Salvation Meauli, who now lives in American Samoa, says her adoptive
parents in Utah refused to give the documents she and her brother need
to prove their identities.