Iowa Woman Scams Potential Adoptive Parents Again
“A woman who police said scammed potential adoptive parents in 2011 faces similar charges once again.
Ankeny police arrested Tracy Leann Bess-Thacker on theft charges Friday after police said she accepted $200 from a prospective adoptive couple from DeWitt, Iowa, in February.
According to police, Bess had searched the Internet and signed onto adoption websites in order to lure couples interested in adopting her unborn baby.
Detectives said Bess filed a “Birth Mother Information Request” with LifeLong Adoptions, which works to connect birth mothers with interested adoptive parents.
According to police, Bess was not pregnant but used information from an earlier pregnancy, including hospital photographs and a sonogram, to fool potential adoptive parents into supporting her both materially and psychologically in return for the promise of prioritizing them as the adoptive parents.
In July 2014, Ankeny police received information from a Utah couple who discovered Tracy Bess working the same type of scam over the internet. The Utah couple researched Bess and discovered information about her earlier arrest in 2011 and notified police. There were no applicable laws with which to charge Bess at that time.
Ankeny police said Bess did the same thing in 2011, when she used 19 different aliases to connect with prospective adoptive parents in multiple states, including Nebraska, Illinois, Hawaii, Iowa and Kansas.
She was charged with filing a false report and perjury and pleaded guilty to both crimes on August 22, 2011.
Police said during the 2011 investigation, detectives learned that many of the victims traveled to Iowa to visit with Bess and discuss the possibilities of adoption. Many victims were devastated to learn that the entire event was a hoax leaving them emotionally shattered, according to police.
The Ankeny Police Department is asking for assistance from anyone in the process of adoption, including adoption agencies, to forward this information and photograph of Bess to prevent further victimization.
“Tracy Bess is an Internet predator who intentionally inflicts mental anguish and emotional distress on adoptive parents. This is a strong example of an Internet bullying case that has not been considered in the law,” said Ankeny Police Chief Gary Mikulec.
If you believe you have been victimized by Tracy Leann Bess or Tracy Leann Bess-Thacker, please contact Detective Dan Vallejo at the Ankeny Police Department at 515-289-5240.”
Police: Woman charged again in adoption scam[Kcci 3/2/15 by Jeremy Moser]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update:“A Woodward woman is in the Dallas County jail Tuesday on felony child endangerment charges.
Woodward police said Tracy Bess-Thacker, 32, injured her 10-year-old and infant child.
According to police, Thacker’s husband called 911 to say his wife was drunk and threatening him and the children.
“You could tell she was upset,” Woodward police Chief Joseph Cox said. “There was also a hole in the wall where she punched. She admitted to officers she punched it, and she was intoxicated.”
According to court documents, the children had scratches, bumps and marks on their faces that Thacker couldn’t explain.
Court documents said Thacker’s 10-year-old son told police his mom also held him down in a bathtub of cold water by wrapping her hands around his neck. She also threatened him that if he told his Dad, “she will kill him.”
“There were bruises and red marks left and bumps on the head,” Cox said.
Cox said the injuries to the children were upsetting to see.
“This is probably the worst part of the job for any law enforcement officer is to deal with children when they’re injured,” Cox said.
In 2015, Bess-Thacker was convicted of pretending to be pregnant and running an adoption scam in Ankeny.
Authorities said she scammed a perspective adoptive couple out of $200.
Bess-Thacker lied to at least 10 families in various states by going to online adoption sites and faking pregnancy to couples desperately hoping to adopt.”
Mother convicted in adoption scam charged with child endangerment
[KCCI 1/16/18 by Laura Terrll]
This story shows three things:
1). Adoption agencies do little or nothing to verify the honesty and trustworthiness of their “sources” of saleable children before offering these children to PAPs. This is why we have widespread child trafficking across the globe.
2). The entire onus is laid on the Bess-Thacker’s shoulders, with zero splashback on Lifelong Adoptions for not vetting her before accepting her as a “supplier”.
3). The emotional experience of the adoptive parents involved is ALWAYS the center of any news story about adoption, no matter what. The amount of money the fake birthmother scammed is small potatoes, but the fact that PAPs were the victims makes this a far more heinous crime in the police chief’s mind than scamming the same amount of money under a different pretext.