If Dateline NBC's exposé on Guatemalan children sold for adoption can't convince people that there is a pedophile adoption play book then nothing will.
Using hidden cameras, NBC solicited a child from a Guatemalan baby broker for an American man with a history of sex crimes against children. The broker tells the undercover reporter that the easiest way to get the adoption approved is to either bribe the police for a clean background check or just remove this information from the adoption home study.
When we first discovered that Masha Allen was adopted by a pedophile, we called one agency responsible for her adoption, Reaching Out Thru International Adoption [ROTIA] (now known as Child Promise). When confronted with the reality of Matthew Mancuso's crimes, a ROTIA director told us that Mancuso didn't invent the pedophile adoption play book, but that he was just borrowing it: "After all, anyone can adopt anywhere anytime. There are lots of Mancusos out there, but what can we do about it. It would be a shame if one agency had to take the fall."
Consider that fact that renowned naturist leader Toni Egbert was the sister of ROTIA's executive director when Mancuso adopted, the prevalence of Russian and Ukrainian children in naturist videos (click at your own risk), and the accepted practice of supplying nude pre-adoption videos of East European children, and the question becomes why WOULDN'T pedophiles adopt?
On August 24, 2005, the Joint Cabal on International Children's Services [JCICS] held a secret meeting in Washington, DC to discuss child abuse cases of Russian adopted children. The participant list is a veritable who's who of international adoption which included Lee Allen and Chuck Johnson, lobbyists for the National Council for Adoption [NCFA], Ernie Jones of Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption [FRUA], and Debbie Spivack and Sonia Baxter of ROTIA.
The notes of this meeting, which were provided by a confidential source, reveal that Masha's story, which was already widely publicized, was not even discussed. Instead there were some important revelations about what the industry did know:
"We need to think about the financial piece of adoption. So many people's revenues are generated by accepting families and facilitating adoptions. Unless there are some standards that US government or Russian government set, why would agencies abide by them? Sadly there are some agencies that would look at the money being offered and don't have children's interest on the forefront. Money drives this field just like so many others.""Political reality is that we are being forced to face this due to the fact that Russia does find it significant."
"Parents agency shop until they find an agency they think will be able to meet their expectations."
One participant suggested "a waiver in which parents might allow agencies access to information that would be needed in protecting the child." The group quickly recommended that this idea "be discussed with the American Bar Association for legal ramifications."
"Participants expressed the importance of us stating that this roundtable is a proactive self-regulation effort to collaborate with Russia on how we can best continue to practice in the US and in Russia."
Masha didn't even make the JCICS list of documented cases of child abuse or neglect in US children adopted from Russia, despite the presence of at least three people who knew all about her rape and exploitation.
Can we really tolerate such a "self-regulating" industry which acts so clueless and yet appears so proactive? Aren't they most concerned with their ability to "continue to practice in the US and in Russia" while clearing their ass-covering efforts with the American Bar Association?
Which leads me to Guatemala. With little need for further editorializing (just watch the show) it doesn't take much to imagine, in either my mind or in the mind of the many Mancusos out there, that Guatemala is a virtual childrens bazaar for pedophiles.
I guess we should all rest a little bit safer knowing that the National Cabal for Missing and Exploited Children [NCMEC], with their squad of crack rent-a-cop investigators and generou$ tech indu$try backing (no more milk cartons for them!) are finally on the job, but sadly my upcoming exposé on them will leave little room for reassurance.
Folks we all need to wake up and realize that the pedophile adoption play book is real, it's being used and children all over the world are at risk. Combine Dateline with to Catch a Predator and you get a pretty good idea of the danger. If only the "proactive" "self-regulating" "money-drives-this-field-like-so-many-other" "just-think-of-the-children-that's-what-it's-all-about" apologists just understood. I'm still waiting.
In addition to other false statements contained in this article, I attended no such secret meeting. Debbie Spivack
This article is well documented and all of it's assertions can be substantiated in a variety of ways. W/ respect to Ms. Spivak's disingenuous assertion that she did not attend a secret damage control meeting convened to spin Russian adoption problems, later today we will be happy to post the full text of minutes of the meeting detailing her involvement which were posted on the internet.
Anyone interested in the work of Ms. Spivak's agency should acquaint themselves w/ the full text of a Congressional hearing convened in Washington last year devoted solely to the full field Congressional oversight investigation of ROTIA, Jeannene Smith and other agency principals. Most notable in that hearing was the strident criticism leveled by the entire oversight subcommittee at the sloppy, negligent and perhaps even illegal work of ROTIA.
Finally, it should be noted that Ms. Spivak and her several predecessors as heads of the agency were fully aware of the circumstances of Masha Allen's adoption and the fact they they facilitated her adoption by a pedophile for fully three years before we entered the case. During that time they not only failed to move to expose the "adoption playbook" that they readily acknowledge to us existed BEFORE Mancuso came to them, they played a direct role in attempting to cover up its existence, the gaps in their work, the adoption system at large and ultimately Masha's own pleas for accountability.
Most notably, though Jeannene Smith's obvious negligence had been exposed by that time, she continued to be affiliated w/ the agency, including during Ms. Spivak's tenure until their recent "name change", a transparent effort to cloak themselves in legitimacy, minimize liability in Masha's case and to continue the charade clearly outlined in the minutes of the Joint Council secret meeting that the adoption industry is focused on protecting children, especially from the growing trafficking of children via the adoption system into the hands of sexual predators who could be discerned by a first year psychology student studying criminal profiling.
Maureen Flatley
We saw you there, Debbie.
"Joint Cabal on International Children's Services" That should be COUNCIL not Cabal. This certainly doen't help make your case. Also, that meeting was not "secret" as a good 50 people attended in either person or via telephone.
The truth is, no specific case was discussed, not just Masha's.
If the definition of a cabal is a secret group of plotters or conspirators then that certainly fills the bill. This meeting may have included 50 people but its attendance and substance was carefully contoured to ensure a particular character of attendee. Unfortunately, the discussions revealed that the only concern was keeping the business flowing, not protecting the interests of parents or children, aka the customers. In fact, Masha's case does not appear to have been discussed at all. That's the point.
Ernie, over the years I have advocated for dozens of adoptive parents who have gone to FRUA for support on everything from their children's behavioral health issues to adoption agency rip offs. While many of them found support and counsel for things like medical, psychological and esp attachment issues few, if any, got any sympathy, much less any real advocacy, about the carelessness, abuses and exploitation by their adoption agencies. Over the years, I and we have visited your list frequently. What we have increasingly found is a site awash w/ anonymous posturing and gossip, much of it based on no direct knowledge of any kind and fueled by adoption agency propaganda. I personally have been very complimentary to you and others about your stewardship of your list when it comes to certain kinds of chatting. However, your list increasingly reflects the "get me a kid at all costs" mentality that has increasingly undermined adoption for the best families while allowing people like Mancuso and others to exploit children. More importantly, by pandering to the desperate - by refusing to hold the industry accountable, whether for the financial extortion, careless screening or outright coverups - good people like you are allowing adoption to become inaccessible to the good and far too accessible to the outright evil. Rather than challenging anyone on Jamie's list, you should head right back to your own and show the leadership that made your list great in its earliest days. There are a lot of people who feel like we do. But increasingly parents, esp waiting parents, are not willing to be subjected to the kinds of witch hunts some people on your list have been so willing to conduct on and off your list.
Maureen Flatley
PS. The next time you're at a Joint Council meeting, I have a list of questions from FRUA members about the business practices of their members. And you can ask them too why the rebranded agency that delivered Masha to Mancuso is being welcomed w/ open arms though the original questions remain unanswered.
Well, I was in attendance and have to disagree with the above. Perhaps you should come up of your on "cable" and tell us who you are and how you can make the claims you do.
Mr. Jones, I'm an adoptive parent who went to your list for support. There were some helpful people but a lot of what I found was just gossip. When Masha's case was going out I saw a lot of emails trying to keep her story from going on TV. Why should we cover this stuff up? A lot of us are good people. But it looks pretty obvious that some bad things are happening. I'm no one important. But the more I think about it, I know we need to make sure this stuff doesn't happen. A friend sent me Mr. Marsh's link. I'm going to keep reading. I don't think we should be quibbling with him. I think we should know a lot more about who is doing what. I know I would rather read this than the gossip I saw on your list.
I want to thank you and Maureen for keeping this going. It is no surprise to me that the adoptacrats ignore pedo adoption rings while routinely attacking The Care Bears, "Medical Adoptions.com" and the Middletown Doll Factory. I was soundly trounced for writing Forever Family--Forever Dead about Russian adoptees murdered by their forever families. I was "disrespectful to adoptive parents. Apparently killer adopters need our respect! I can't even call it hypocracy. It's like the Catholic Church-- it's all about "protecting" the institution, not the individuals who are exploited and harmed or worse by the institution. Victims come and go. Adoption of "forever."
Today I learned that Jeannene Smith's international adoption agency, recently renamed ChildPromise [http://www.childpromise.org/], is discontinuing operations.
A message from executive director Sonia Baxter at their number [856-435-2222] states that "due to our recent sad announcement regarding ceasing adoption activities, we are receiving many calls. Our goal is to insure that there's a calm and organized process to transferring cases and completing adoptions. . . . Please know I will be talking with each of you personally . . . I will get back with you, I promise!"
No news on what happened. Sadly this is one defendant from which Masha will never collect damages.
Debbie Spivack - "Speak for the Children: Little Things Really Can Make a Difference" - April Fools Day 2005 - right before the real Masha story broke. Bad choice of names and just a coincidence . . . I guess:
Unspun by her own spinning.
Gadspy, Debbie Spivack's post gets EVEN BETTER if you read on. Here it is in her OWN WORDS (the highlights and editorial comments are mine):
The misinformed state that fees paid for adoption demonstrate that it is easy for rich Americans "buy and sell" people like commodities. [Matthew Mancuso was a millionaire.] Again educate! Tell them first that the process is anything but easy. Tell them that adoptive parents open themselves up to the highest degree of scrutiny by the American officials and foreign officials to ensure that they are fit parents. [This does not, apparently, extend to interviewing an adoptive parent's personal references, former wives or molested children. Richard Baird, the CEO of Adagio Health whose agency conducted the Mancuso homestudy, testified before Congress that it was not agency practice or industry practice to check such references. He later admitted that he did conduct such reference checks for prospective employees, but orphan children from Russia? Come on man. There'$ no fun in that!] Tell them about the hours you spent gathering documents to share with these governments including tax returns, criminal background checks, child abuse clearances, employment and salary verification, just to name a few. And, of course, recount the numerous meetings you had with social workers, approval at the state level then the federal level, all before going through this all over again on the foreign side. [Of course this does not always involve an actual visit to the perspective single middle aged man attempting to adopt a young blond haired blue eyed Russian girl's home where an astute fully licensed and educated social worker like Nancy Simpronio (who performed the Mancuso homestudy) might find no bedroom for the child, assorted dildos, whips and chains, and a pedo-pleasure pit in the basement. Not to mention the AOL screen name IfuckedMySister. No $en$e in $poiling all the fun with pre- and po$t-adoption HOME VISIT$ when the forged paperwork can speak for its self!] The world should know that American families endure months or years and a great deal of effort to demonstrate that they are fit parents, and that their motives are to love and nurture a child for the rest of his or her life. [Not that nurturing necessarily involves a healthy variety and plentiful amount of food mind you. Food which might bring on nasty stuff like puberty and, if you are a pedophile, ruin all the love.]
Foreigners also widely misunderstand the basis of fees for adoption. Tell them that any fees paid during the course of this process are not to buy a child. Rather, fees are for services to ensure the integrity of the process and keep corruption away. [Ah, ok, this clears everything up. If only Mancuso would have been charged MORE . . .] Every protection put in place to protect children corresponds to procedures in both domestic and foreign processing, and that these procedures are onerous and must be followed to the letter of the law. Doing it right demands the navigation of laws, procedures and challenges by intelligent, conscientious, and ethical individuals who choose to dedicate their time and attention to help find families for children despite their qualifications to work elsewhere. [This from the woman who worked (or volunteered perhaps?) side-by-side with Jeannene Smith, the ethical whore of adoption. Ms. Smith's only qualifications at this point is the prison laundry.] The focus should not be on the fact that fees are paid, but, rather, on transparency as to how the fees are spent and assurance that no fees were given to a birthmother to influence her decision in favor of making her child available for adoption. [NOW THAT'S A RELIEF!!]
Critics should also know that international adoption is a non-profit humanitarian mission. [Folks do I really need to go on here?? Does SHE really need to go on. This reads like the NCFA playbook. Excuse me now while I puke.] Tell them that American agencies working in this field are primarily non-profit, government-licensed and subjected to accountability on a regular basis for our activities. Individuals working in this field have often given up lucrative careers in other industries to help these children. [Speaking of accountability, how was YOUR former agency accountable when you discovered what Matthew did to Masha? Did you "rout out" the evil-doers "at all costs?" Did you warn people about the pedophile play book and the risk that pedophiles just might possibly conceivably be trying to adopt children? Given your lucrative abilities did you do anything Debbie to help? Correct? Warn? Rectify?? ? ?] We are highly trained, exceedingly committed, and passionate about the work we do. We want nothing more than to find homes and families for children who do not otherwise have these benefits. There are millions of children in this world who need these things, and we do not need to engage in illicit activities to find them.
. . . .
And, most importantly, do not let those around us continue to confuse the terms child trafficking with international adoption. Many of those with a political agenda use the term interchangeably to suggest that somehow adoption is morally corrupt. [What political agenda? Oh right, I forgot: them black folks like workin' hard. They all just need some Christianizing and civilizing and this is all just part of the white man's burden Debbie. We're not doing it for US, we're doing it for THEM!] The concepts are truly diametric opposites, and the distinction is worth making at every opportunity!
Explain the difference! Child trafficking involves people illegally, immorally and often violently removing children from their homes and placing them with people who intend to use them for illegal and morally corrupt commercial purposes such as slave labor or prostitution. [Mancuso didn't need no prostitute when he had everything he wanted right at home. He paid once and didn't have to pay no more. Didn't even cost him that much in food. And why make others pay when the rape scene photos could be traded for even better rape scene photos. Say what? You did think about THOSE PEOPLE? Well now you know.] In contrast, international involves adoptive parents who have spent months going through invasive approval processes, additional months or years of waiting for a child, all in the hopes of having a child to love and care for during the duration of their life. They follow the legal process of their child's birth country, as well as their own, to ultimately give a child a home when no such opportunity exists in their own country.
Indeed, child trafficking is a very real threat to the well-being of all children and must be routed out at all costs. [And it is apparently a threat which ROTIA and the entire adoption industry IGNORED or covered up with bullshit like this.] It also exploits the desperation of birth mothers to want to do what seems best for their children under difficult circumstances by going around the law and procedures to achieve an improper end. It is incumbent upon all of us to correct this confusion by reminding those around us that the former is a poison, while the latter is a blessing. Using the terms interchangeably perpetuates the notion that international adoption is inherently corrupt.
Now truly Debbie wasn't talking about Masha in this post. Truly.
I don't even know where to begin on this and won't even try. When are these money grubbers going to be charged with criminal offenses? When will they be booted out of the business?
Georgia Tann would be proud--even envious--of these crooks and child abusers. Tann only had Tennessee to dip in to; these people have the world.
I failed registering, hence my 'anonymous' comment.
I just posted a reference and comment on my Blog:
http://romania-forexportonly.blogspot.com/
Isn't it weird that ROTIA's director is the sister of Egbert, while Peckenpaugh was also a fervent nudist?
Congratulations with your work!
Roelie Post
From the upcoming 2008 JCICS Medical Institute and Conference entitled "Creating Permanency Through Families: Intercountry Adoption's Role in Child Welfare" sponsored by Adoption.com, the Council on Accreditation, and the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Human Rights Campaign:
Workshop Series 3B: The Legal Evolution of Claims for “Wrongful Adoption” and Methods to Protect Your Agency from Exposure to Such Claims by Deborah E. Spivack, Esq.
"This presentation will detail the evolution of claims for wrongful adoption, as well as ways that agencies can aim to prevent and/or address claims from liability for wrongful adoption based on fraud or negligence. The session will explore the definition of such claims and provide a brief history so that all attendees can participate regardless of their previous legal knowledge. It will also focus on the litigation of a claim for “wrongful adoption” and review documentation such as contract provisions, waivers of liability and referral acceptance paperwork to provide guidance regarding agency policies and procedures."
No words have more truly been spoken by someone who knows so much.
The evolution of wrongful adoption has been that courts over the past few years have begun to recognize claims for fraud and negligence against adoption agencies that intentionally or recklessly mislead adoptive parents about their child's health.
In a few cases the courts have even recognized a coa by an adoptee who was improperly placed with adoptive parents whose mental health history was covered up by an agency (a prospect that gives the agencies a chill down their spine I am sure).
So here's an alternate idea:
Why not provide training to agencies to NOT COMMIT FRAUD when submitting applications on behalf of adoptive parents, or informing adoptive parents about the history of their child? A more valuable training with no previous legal knowledge required at all.
This industry will not survive if it continues to obsess about avoiding liability in lieu of fixing the problems that lead to the liability in the first place.
I am relieved that there is somewhere on the internet where the freedom of speech about adoption still prevails. Adoptions agencies and their minions crawl the web, looking for any negative (and truthful) information, and then put pressure on webmasters to take it down, so that the gullible potential adoptive paprents continue to believe that these agencies will provide them with an ethical adoption. So far, this is the only site where any of REAL behind the scenes information actually stays on the web. I'm in the middle of a botched international adoption with one of the rogues gallery agencies, and I wish I had known all this a long time ago. I was so naive - I didn't realize that the agencies systematically remove any negative information from the web, put gag orders on the PAPs with the agencies, etc. Now I'm in a position of having a referral that will probably never turn into a family. If blogs like this save even one family from going through what we are going through, then this blog was all worth it. Keep up the good work.