Anyeli’s Adoptive Parents Speak Out and Guatemalan Lawyer and Agency Legal Representative Sentenced to Prison

We previously covered Anyeli’s case here. Now, her adoptive parents speak out in their first interview and two of the Guatemalans involved with her kidnapping have been sentenced to prison.

“In 2008, Timothy and Jennifer Monahan adopted Karen, a 4-year-old girl from Guatemala. Three years after the adoption, the Monahans were hit with horrifying news: the Guatemalan courts overturned the adoption and ordered Karen to be sent back.

Loyda Rodriguez, a Guatemalan woman came forward and said Karen was her birth child who had been kidnapped by human traffickers in 2007, and then put up for adoption illegally. In early August, Judge Angelica Noemi Tellez Hernandez ordered the Monahans to return their daughter to her birth mother, siding with the Survivors’ Foundation, the human rights group representing Rodriguez, CBS reported.

At the time, there were questions about whether the Guatemalan judge’s ruling was enforceable in the U.S. and whether the Monahans would comply. The family chose to remain silent in light of the decision, according to ABC.

This morning, the couple appeared on the “Early Show” for their first live TV interview to discuss progress on the case and to clear up accusations that Karen had been put up for adoption using “fake documents.”

“As far as we knew, we had a legal adoption,” Jennifer told CBS. And though the Monahan’s attorney says the ruling has no jurisdiction in the United States, “we believe in ethical adoption so it’s very important to us that we continue to pursue the truth in our daughter’s past,” she says.

An earlier DNA test confirmed a match between Loyda Rodriguez and another child who was adopted. But, the Monahan’s do not believe that that child is Karen. When asked why there hasn’t been another DNA test to set the record straight, Jennifer said:

“We actually believe that DNA testing is a very important part of the process, but unfortunately in Guatemala, it’s the only part of the process that holds preeminence. And because they use property rights arguments to declare Karen, as we understand it, like DNA is sort of viewed as a title, and we strongly feel that Karen isn’t property … it’s very important that we know the whole truth, and not just DNA, and that that be done in a safe context.”

If it turns out that Karen is Loyda’s daughter, the Monahans don’t know what would happen next. “It’s very difficult to say … we’re trying to find the whole truth to make the best judgement on how to go forward,” Timothy told CBS.

And though Karen doesn’t have a complete understanding of what’s going on, Jennifer says she has a lot of “spunk” and is doing okay. ”
Timothy And Jennifer Monahan, Couple Ordered To Return Adopted Daughter To Guatemala Speaks
[Huffington Post 10/24/11]

Lawyer and Agency Legal Representative Sentenced to Prison in Guatemala

“The Eighth Penal Tribunal sentenced lawyer Beatriz Valle Flores to 21 years in prison for human trafficking, criminal association and using false documents. She signed papers in the adoption.

A 16-year sentence went to the legal representative of the adoption agency, Enriqueta Noriega Cano, where the girl spent a year before being adopted. The girl left the country on Dec. 9, 2008.

Both women were also ordered to pay 100,000 quetzales ($25,600) apiece to the mother for damages.

Rodriguez, the mother, obtained a Guatemalan court order in July for the return of the seven-year-old, but it is unclear if it can be enforced.

The girl, Anyeli Liseth Hernandez Rodriguez was born Oct. 1, 2004, the second child of Rodriguez, a housewife, and her bricklayer husband, Dayner Orlando Hernandez. The girl disappeared Nov. 3, 2006, as Rodriguez was distracted while opening the door to their house in a working class suburb, San Miguel Petapa. She turned to see a woman whisk the girl, then two, away in a taxi.

If U.S. authorities intervene to return the child as the Guatemalan court has asked, it would be a first for any international adoption case, experts say.”

Guatemalan court sentences 2 women for trafficking baby adopted by US family
[Washington Post 10/24/11 by Associated Press]

Guatemalan newspaper Prense Libre reported on October 15th that the prosecutors were seeking a 26-year sentence.

Seeking 26 years in prison
[Prense Libre 10/15/11]

Prense Libre also has the video (in Spanish) of the sentencing, Norma Cruz of the Fundacion Sobrevivientes group and Anyeli’s mother Lloyda at this link.

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