The Haitian Ten: Who Is Laura Silsby? CBS

reply to post by hotbakedtater

I posted this earlier which touches on questions I have about that charity.

Laura Silsby website personalshopper.com has a link to a donation site for Kids Changing Lives which does not show up as a charity. But on that page she links there is a picture that shows Operation Smile which is a charity but theres one problem. Operation Smile Inc does not operate as a charity in the state of Idaho. As seen on page 36 of there form 990. So what is this charity listed on her website? And her website shows how she matches all the donations. Where does the money to match come from if shes not even paying the employees to run the site. Site says theve recieved $19505 and are matching to bring the total to $39015.

www.operationsmile.org...

www.operationsmile.org...

www.personalshopper.com...

[edit on 9-2-2010 by JBA2848]

reply to post by JBA2848

You're right, now I know why it sounded familiar. I think she found she could use charities as a way to get people to give her money.

www.idahopress.com...

Pastor Clint Henry of Central Valley Baptist Church

One thing I would like to correct, as reported in some media coverage, is that the 10 Americans are not full-time missionaries. They are members of local churches from three different states who joined together to participate in this trip. They are friends and neighbors who have big hearts and lots of love to share. They come from churches much like ours here at Central Valley Baptist Church. Churches that take short term volunteer trips both here and abroad to carry out the work our Lord Jesus Christ has commanded.

This week, a fund was set up at US Bank called the 10 Americans Support Fund. Those who care about our friends and family can give at any US Bank location. It will help us as we carry on and will bless those that we serve from home.

Churches that take short term volunteer trips both here and abroad to carry out the work our Lord Jesus Christ has commanded? I guess I missed the commandment Take children from Haiti and put them up for adoption in a foreign country. And I guess there is a new charity to wonder about now "10 Americans Support Fund". I can't find anything on this fund anywhere except this Clint Henry saying it in this statement.

[edit on 9-2-2010 by JBA2848]

akopsa.wordpress.com...

Laura Silsby is now Idaho poison. People are putting distance between themselves and the CEO of PersonalShopper.com and jailed Baptist missionary. PersonalShopper’s offices are shuttered and dark in Boise. The company’s COO and VP of Financing have changed their LinkedIn pages, dropping personal information and direct connections to their company. A local Idaho contractor talks to the Wall Street Journal about his dealings with Ms. Silsby then denies the statements 3 days later. Even her fiery pastor, Clint Henry, is now making statements attempting to put her at arm’s length

Clint Henry, Central Valley Baptist Church

Last week, Clint Henry was out in front of the fight, defending his detained flock in Haiti:

“One of the reasons that our church wanted to help is because we believe that Christ has asked us to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world, and that includes children.” After the 10 Americans were taken into custody, Rev. Henry went on to lead his congregation back in Idaho in prayer for the detainees: “Help them as they seek to resist the accusations of Satan and the lies that he would want them to believe and the fears that he would want to plant in their heart.” (AP via Yahoo News)

However, as of February 5, Pastor Henry was whistling a different tune (from KTVB.com):

“They [Silsby and other missionary Charisa Coulter] have been in our chuch for a couple of years probably at most, but somewhere during that period of time, they began talking about what they were envisioning to do, this dream they had….so our church is not a key player in making the orphanage happen, that is, what they have done.”

Ringing prayers of endorsement and complimentary denouncement of Satan for Ms. Silsby seems at an end.

Interesting article that goes on in length about how people close to Silsby are deleting web pages denying ties to her and changeing there stories and so on...

www.newser.com...

(Newser) – The Baptist missionaries jailed on kidnapping charges in Haiti tried not once, but twice, to take kids out of the country, according to a Haitian police officer. The officer stopped the group last month and ordered some 40 children off their bus as they headed from Haiti to the Dominican Republic, he told CNN. The group was charged last week with kidnapping after trying to take 33 children out of the country.

The missionaries have insisted they were simply trying to help Haiti's orphans, and their lawyer says they had permission to take children to the Dominican Republic.

If this is true and when they were caught with 33 children was a second time.The first time they were caught was with 40 children and the police released them after removing the kids from the bus. If it was there second time let them suffer in a Haiti prison.

edition.cnn.com...

Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- The American missionaries in Haiti facing kidnapping charges for trying to take 33 children out of the country last week made an earlier, unsuccessful attempt at taking dozens of other children, a Haitian police officer said.

The officer did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals. He told CNN on Monday that he had stopped the 10 Baptist missionaries, including group leader Laura Silsby, on January 26 as they tried to transport 40 children from Haiti to the Dominican Republic.

The officer said he discovered Silsby and the nine other Americans on a bus in Port-au-Prince's Pétionville neighborhood after receiving a tip from a concerned citizen.

He stopped the group and ordered the children to get off the bus. He then directed Silsby to the Dominican Embassy.

"I said what happened, and she [Silsby] told me, 'I have the paperwork to cross the Haitian-Dominican border with 100 children,' " the officer said. A former attorney for the group, Edwin Coq, said the officer has testified of his account.

Prosecutors questioned the officer last week in the case against the missionaries. Prosecutors no longer suspect him of any wrongdoing, and he is now a witness, according Coq, who is familiar with the prosecution's case file.

The police officer's superiors also confirmed his version of events. Attorneys for the Americans did not immediately answer calls for comment
.

[edit on 9-2-2010 by JBA2848]

Well, the new attorney for the Haitian Ten is being quite optimistic. The following article claims parents of the "orphans" freely gave over their children to the group; is confident they will all be released.

www.spokesman.com...


"PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Parents of some of the children who 10 U.S. missionaries tried to take out of Haiti after its catastrophic earthquake told a judge Tuesday that they freely handed over their kids, the Americans’ lawyer said.

The parents’ testimony means no law was broken and “we can’t talk any more about trafficking of human beings,” attorney Aviol Fleurant told reporters.

He said he was confident the judge will dismiss the case."

It sounds like the Haitian Ten are possibly going to get out of this mess they brought upon their own ignorant selves. Its a shame if thats the case, because there is no excuse to barge into another country and completely disregard the laws of said country in the name of LORD. That is insane.

It was fairly predicable from the start that strings would be pulled to avoid a lot of very awkward questions being asked

Further, I still suspect that behind the Ten were others with a LOT more to lose if the full story emerged

I feel perhaps six of the Ten were ignorant dupes. Hope they learned and more importantly, that their experience and the publicity accorded the case will serve to sober up any future, similarly-inclined do-gooders

Money talks

Money always talked

And I guess it talks a lot louder within a community in chaos and despair. News sources have been claiming for several days that some of the parents of the children concerned 'Do not want them back', adding that some of the parents gave away their children in the hope they (the kids) would 'do well' and return to their biological families to 'help out'. Sickening

Anyway, with so many Haitians breeding children which end up being bought and relocated all around the globe, what difference, really do 30 or a 100 more make ?

Just more good reasons for the widespread use of sterilisation techniques, imo

reply to post by hotbakedtater


I would say that they got caught a first time and got a smack on the hand and got caught a second time who knows what the judge will do. Making an example of some one who uses christian beliefs to say were better and Haiti laws mean nothing when your christians. What would the US do if christians started breaking laws in the name of christ. Lock them up befor they can spread the thought that claim christ as a defence and you will get off of any charge.

[edit on 10-2-2010 by JBA2848]

erlc.com...

Urge Release of 10 Baptist Missionaries to Haiti
By Richard Land - Feb 9, 2010 - 1

Dear Friends:

Last Friday, the Haitian government decided to charge 10 Baptists, who are citizens of the United States, with kidnapping and criminal association for attempting to take 33 Haitian children out of that devastated country to a place of safety and care. This is an outrage.

Our nation’s churches are giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to relief efforts for the people of Haiti, and these Christian men and women sought to do even more to help alleviate the suffering of some Haitian children. While they may have been operating from a lack of knowledge about the appropriate process for their humanitarian efforts, we are confident that their intentions were not nefarious.

At this point, it appears that the Haitian government does not intend to release these well-meaning men and women. Their best hope lies in God and in American believers to move our government to press firmly for their release.

Here’s how you can help. If you share our dismay over the Haitian government’s decision, please contact your representative and senators, as well as President Obama, and urge them to do everything in their power to demand the release of these 10 U.S. citizens. For contact information, or to send them a suggested email or one entirely your own, please visit our “Take Action” page on the ERLC’s Web site here.

Thank you for voicing your concern on behalf of our fellow believers.

In His Service,

Dr. Richard Land
President
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Southern Baptist Convention

Heres another article where he tries to make out that this group should go free due to the donations from the US. I bet they had the same defence for the child molester preachers too. You can't say that because my flock does good you must forgive the goose that hurt you or the rest of the flock will turn there back on you. What has the religion in this world been learning tactics from the mob bosses. Oh wait this guy does work with congress.

Biography
Princeton (A.B., magna cum laude) and Oxford (D.Phil.) educated, Dr. Richard Land has served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission since 1988. During his tenure as representative for the largest Protestant denomination in the country, Dr. Land has represented Southern Baptist and other Evangelicals’ concerns in the halls of Congress, before U.S. Presidents, and in the media.

In 2005, Dr. Land was featured in Time Magazine as one of The Twenty-five Most Influential Evangelicals in America.

As host of For Faith & Family and Richard Land LIVE!, two nationally syndicated radio programs, Dr. Land speaks passionately and authoritatively on the social, ethical, and public policy issues facing our country. Listeners can hear these broadcasts on over 500 radio stations across the country and on-demand on the Internet.

Dr. Land’s latest book, The Divided States of America? What Liberals and Conservatives are Missing in the God-and-Country Shouting Match! is published by Thomas Nelson. more »

erlc.com...

www.thedailybeast.com...:archive14

From the Baptist 10 charged with child kidnapping in Haiti to a Connecticut man accused of sexually abusing Haitian boys, U.S. missionaries are in trouble—and undersupervised—abroad.

While the world’s attention is focused on 10 Baptist missionaries from Idaho charged with trafficking Haitian children, a less-noticed case of child sex abuse by a Catholic missionary in Haiti is unfolding in federal court in Connecticut—and calling attention to the larger, international problem of American missionaries operating abroad without oversight.

Douglas Perlitz, 39, a pastoral minister and celebrated alumnus of Fairfield University, a Jesuit school, is charged with forcing 18 boys into sexual acts in exchange for food, shelter, money, cell phones, electronic devices, shoes, clothes, and other items, while he ran a boarding school for street children in Cap-Haitien from 1998 to 2008. Perlitz has pleaded not guilty to 19 felony counts of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.

Many missionaries “are not answerable to legal authorities, and you’re also not answerable to the people in your church world,” said UPenn religion expert Anthea Butler.

The Perlitz case highlights how missionaries operating with a divine imprimatur can hold unique sway over potential victims, and are often inadequately supervised by their sponsors in the United States.

Elizabeth McAlister, associate professor of religion at Wesleyan University and an expert on Haiti, said that child sex abuse there, including the targeting of boys by Roman Catholic priests, “has a long history from the slavery period to the Roman Catholic educational system through the continued economic and political downward spiral in Haiti.”

“The weak government,” she added, “doesn’t have capacity to do oversight ... It’s a perfect storm for kids to be vulnerable.”
.

This article shows why you can't over look the goose that hurt you due to the good the flock does.

Looks like the Haitian Ten Jesus Jabbed their way out of the mess they created.

Haitian Ten Likely To Be Released

"The source said the missionaries, who were stopped at Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic on January 29, could be released as early as Thursday.

"The order will be to release them," the source told Reuters.

"One thing an investigating judge seeks in a criminal investigation is criminal intentions, and there is nothing that shows criminal intention here."

Defence attorney Gary Lassade says the judge has finished questioning the group, and his next step is to issue his recommendation to the prosecutor.

Johnny Antoine, 33, the father of a 10-month-old child he entrusted to the group of Americans, was in court for the missionaries' latest appearance.

He said he wanted to see the Americans freed.

Mr Antoine said he had willingly given his child to the group because his house had collapsed and he had little means to care for the infant."

****************************************************

I think it is very sad that these ignorant uninformed idiots who caused such trouble, get to go free with no consequences.

But I now expect them to go to the fancy hotel they rented rooms at, bathe, and get back out there and build that orphanage. Now that they know the proper procedures.

Who wants to bet these Jesus Jabbers go right back home the first chance they get?

I have yet to find proof the group even rented rooms for the orphans.

I hope more details are released.

I read this earlier and sort of spat on the keyborad in disgust although I 1/2 expected this outcome,I "hoped" for something more that might make an example for others to realize that it's NOT okay to do things like this.
Yep...they will hightail it home and get those appearances,MSM interviews,movie of the week,and maybe even a book deal allllllllll lined up for profit,that should buy a helluva orphanage,right?
"Jesus Jabbers": HAHAHA! Good one.

'And Bill Klinton rode into town'

Chorus:

Oh, I'm so glad those lovely 'baptists' took my kids '

I gave my kids to the 'baptists' of my own free will

Those 'baptists' came like angels from Heaven and offered my kids a better life. Bless them !

The 'baptists' didn't steal my children !! No ! That's untrue ! I went looking for 'baptists' who'd accept the humble GIFT of my children ! I was looking all over Haiti for god-driven Americans who'd give my children a better life. And lo and behold, like angels of mercy, the 'baptists' finally agreed to take them off my shoulders'

Then the smiling Haitian parents join their voices and 'Hallejulah ! Praise the 'baptists' rings around the crowded press-room

Bill Klinton cuts another notch in his belt and with a grin leaps into his private jet and heads homewards, into the sunset

Need to lose that cellulite ? Then sign this online form to join the Haitian Baptists Quick Loss Programme -- you'll be part of the fastest-growing online-business in post-Recession America

Sign now and you'll also receive an autographed photo of a cute, adopted Haitian child

Just 24 easy payments of $49.99 --- and you'll start shedding those unwanted pounds

Or phone Haiti Baptists Shoppe direct and you'll ALSO receive a colour photo of happy, child-free Haitian parents ! Do it NOW !

Anyone who reads about this incident will come to the conclusion that they were not interested in the safety of the children ranging from 2mo. old to 14yrs of age. They were in fact caught red handed collecting children for others to abuse or ritually kill when they are done with them.

The fact that the Haitian Judge may release these ten criminals will no doubt be because of bribes made to the judge by those whose interests would be compromised if allowed to go to trial.

If the judge releases these ten it will be because of big bribes that will ensure to keep this matter from being explored in a legalistic way and if a group of ten were indeed facing serious charges in some foreign country, then it stands to reason that someone would eventually cut a deal and talk against those not arrested but who funded the operation to go and collect the children in the first place.

By releasing the ten kidnappers, we will never know who sent them, who funds them and who they are associated with in America and or whatever country purchases their kidnapped children. Young children have become a big underground business and it is that illicit business group that desires to be kept out of the light of scrutiny or media discussion or media journalistic investigation as if that still goes on.

I have no doubt that the guilty were caught doing exactly what they were accused of doing. When they get released, just remember that it wasn't because of their innocence but because of their wealthy criminal pedophile associates in high places within government and religious organizations being used as religious fronts for covert kidnapping rings that go shopping for what children they need because the profits are too high to ignore or pass up and because they travel under the cover of a religious group and go where the pickings are easy to acquire and easy to transport to their paying customers .

reply to post by MaxBlack


And furthermore ----- who else believes 'baptists' were chosen as the patsies ?

Opportunism abounds. Use the baptists. They're sincere. Get a phony to suck them in and lead them

Win Win !

Discredit baptists and Christians AND the orchestrators not only get away Scot-free --- into the bargain, they've driven another nail in Christianity's coffin !


Hint: not all Baptists are Baptist

Not all Mormons are Mormon

Not all Catholics are Catholic -- look at the Pope, for example

It's also true that not all 'muslim terrorists' are muslim

Not all 'Palestinian rock throwers' are Palestinian

Not all 'American politicians' are American

And not all 'Haitian parents on tv' are actually related to children at the eye of the storm

Originally posted by hotbakedtater
Looks like the Haitian Ten Jesus Jabbed their way out of the mess they created.

Haitian Ten Likely To Be Released

"The source said the missionaries, who were stopped at Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic on January 29, could be released as early as Thursday.

"The order will be to release them," the source told Reuters.

"One thing an investigating judge seeks in a criminal investigation is criminal intentions, and there is nothing that shows criminal intention here."

Defence attorney Gary Lassade says the judge has finished questioning the group, and his next step is to issue his recommendation to the prosecutor.

Johnny Antoine, 33, the father of a 10-month-old child he entrusted to the group of Americans, was in court for the missionaries' latest appearance.

He said he wanted to see the Americans freed.

Mr Antoine said he had willingly given his child to the group because his house had collapsed and he had little means to care for the infant."

****************************************************

I think it is very sad that these ignorant uninformed idiots who caused such trouble, get to go free with no consequences.

But I now expect them to go to the fancy hotel they rented rooms at, bathe, and get back out there and build that orphanage. Now that they know the proper procedures.

Who wants to bet these Jesus Jabbers go right back home the first chance they get?

I have yet to find proof the group even rented rooms for the orphans.

I hope more details are released.

if they do get released I propose we launch some class-action suits against Silsby simply for wasting our goddamned time!

The lawyer-fees alone will finish off her bankruptcies.

Any lawyers out there looking for some pro-bono work? lol

I will continue to update this thread until the day I google Laura Silsby's name and nothing new comes up. I have a feeling it will be a while.

Here is my latest find, this lady puts together all the information on the two ring leaders, Laura and her Live In nanny.

www.anneofcarversville.com...

Laura Silsby and her Haitian Ten accomplices not in the clear yet: Despite a judge's recommendation the Ten Go Free, prosecutor sits on case until next week.

www.chippewa.com...


"Ten U.S. missionaries arrested trying to leave earthquake-crippled Haiti with a busload of children may be spending the weekend in jail despite a judge recommending their provisional release.

The prosecutor who got the case Thursday afternoon told The Associated Press he would respond to the judge by next week. All public offices are closed Friday, the quake's one-month anniversary that is a national day of mourning."

Well well well. I hope this prosecutor makes these do gooders sweat.

www.chron.com...

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A Dominican man who has served as legal adviser and spokesman for 10 Americans detained in Haiti on child-kidnapping charges has no license to practice law in his native country, officials said Friday.

Jorge Puello, who has been a high-profile advocate for the American Baptists as they navigate the Haitian justice system, is in apparent violation of Dominican law for failing to register with the local bar association or obtain a license, said Jose Parra, vice president of the Dominican Lawyers Association.

Parra said his organization was still investigating the situation and might file a complaint with the Justice Department, which could pursue criminal charges.

Puello declined to comment in a brief telephone interview, saying he would be busy in court representing a U.S. firm seeking to establish a business in the Dominican Republic. He could not be located in court and did not return later phone calls.

The Web site for Puello Consulting says it has offered "full legal services" for businesses in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere since 2005. The site was taken down Friday for unknown reasons.

The New York Times reported late Thursday that authorities in El Salvador are investigating whether Puello is a man suspected of leading a trafficking ring in that country involving Central American and Caribbean women and girls.

The newspaper reported police said his picture seemed to match that of a suspected trafficker.

Puello denied any connection to trafficking in an interview with the newspaper and said he had never been to El Salvador.

Police Commissioner Howard Cotto, deputy director of investigations for the Salvadoran national police, told The Associated Press on Friday that authorities would need to compare fingerprints before they could determine if Puello was the man being investigated.

It was unclear whether Puello's lack of credentials would have any effect on the Americans who were detained in Haiti for allegedly trying to take 33 children out of the country without proper authorization following the country's Jan. 12 earthquake.

A Haitian judge on Thursday recommended provisional release for the Americans but all 10 remain jailed pending a response from the prosecutor. The prosecutor has said he will respond next week.

Now the lawyer is suspected of leading a trafficking ring?

reply to post by JBA2848


Hi, do you know if the american 10 already knew thier legal advisor or were they appointed him automatically?

It would be interesting to find out because its too coincidential that thier leagal rep is being investigatede for child trafficking...



[edit on 13-2-2010 by squidley_35]