“If the United States had an earthquake, that would not give you the right to take children,” prosecutor Jean-Francois contended.
A U.S. Christian who was arrested for trying to take dozens of children out of Haiti stood trial Thursday. Laura Silsby testified that she only wanted to help the Haitian children.
“One week after the earthquake I left my family and my home to help children that had been orphaned in the earthquake,” she said on the first day of her trial, according to The Associated Press.
“We came here with a heart to help.”
In January after a massive earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, Silsby led a team of Baptists – mainly from Idaho – to the Caribbean country to transport children who lost their parents to an orphanage they were setting up in the Dominican Republic.
They were arrested on Jan. 29 when they attempted to take 33 children to the neighboring country without proper documents, and charged with kidnapping a minor and criminal association.
Complications arose when the children were all found to have at least one living parent.
The two charges against the team of 10 were dropped last month but Silsby still faced a charge of arranging irregular travel.
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