Texas Attorney Charged with Buying Babies From County Inmates
“The founder of a North Texas adoption agency has been arrested on allegations of paying pregnant female inmates in the Tarrant County Jail to put their unborn babies up for adoption.
Jody Hall, head of Adoptions International Inc., posted a $50,000 bond after being booked into a Central Texas jail last week. She is an attorney and founder of an adoption agency promoted as a licensed nonprofit.
Back in May, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office said it began looking into what it calls unethical adoption practices involving Hall.
“During this investigation, information was discovered that Jody Hall was paying money to multiple, pregnant Tarrant County inmates for the purpose of placing their unborn children up for adoption with Hall’s agency,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Two months later, sheriff’s detectives served arrest warrants on Hall at her home in Kyle, Texas.
In 2019, the U.S. State Department canceled Adoptions International’s accreditation, which prevents the agency from engaging in adoptions outside the U.S. for failing to maintain standards.
The crime of selling or purchasing a child is a felony in Texas.
It’s unclear at this point whether any inmates in the Tarrant County jail actually received any money or put their babies up for adoption.
CBS News Texas has not been able to reach Hall for a comment.”
Texas adoption attorney charged with attempting to sell, purchase unborn children
[CBS News Texas 8/1/24 by J D Miles]
“The women, authorities alleged, were given hundreds of dollars with promises of more money.
Hall tried to set up a meeting before a 29-year-old victim’s due date, according to the arrest warrant.
The court documents detail one alleged message recorded from the suspect to an inmate: “Hi (*****) — My name is Jody Hall. I am the Director of the Adoption Agency that you have signed with. I need to talk to you since you’re now in jail and your due date is not that far away. Can you please give me a call tomorrow?”
Later alleged messages from Hall to the inmate allegedly show she offered money, noting she “should be putting $$ on your books today or tomorrow,” the arrest report claims.
Hall eventually gave the woman more than $800, according to officials.
The documents note that despite the money transfer, the inmate eventually decided not to surrender her child, which is when Hall became verbally aggressive, allegedly messaging the victim: “You’re in jail and a drug addict. YOU! Did NOT keep him. You are a scammer…”
In addition, police said Hall was communicating with a second inmate, writing to the 24-year-old woman: “I’ve helped a lot of girls like yourself. We have families who cannot have children that would love to adopt your child … We will put $100 weekly on your books and you can spend part of it on the tablet or whatever you wish to buy.”
The second inmate also reportedly chose to keep her child.”
[Front Page Detective 8/6/24 by Todd Betzold]
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