10 Americans Charged with Kidnapping

In a story released by ABCNEWS, 10 missionaries have been charge with kidnapping in trying to pass 33 Haitian children across the border to the Dominican Republic.

The Idaho based baptist church, led by 40 year old Laura Silsby, were stopped at the Dominican border with 33 Haitian children. When questioned by authorities, Ms. Silsby was unable to produce the paperwork necessary that gave Ms. Silsby the right to possess the children.

Since the arrest of the missionaries, it seems that 9 out of the 10 will be released and sent back to the U.S. The one lone missionary to face the judge is ofcourse Ms. Silsby. She has gone on record and told authorities that the other missionaries did not know that Ms. Silsby didn't have the proper documentation to legally have the children.

Upon further investigation, Haitian authorities have since discovered that many of the orphaned children wasn't even orphans at all. Many of the children still had parents. It was also discovered that the parents of those children willingly gave up their children because they did not have the means to feed and care for their children.

Now here are a couple of questions to think about. One, should Ms. Silsby still be charged with kidnapping? Two, should the parent's of the children be also charged with the crime of child abandonment? The answers to those questions may not be as simple as they seem. Although I understand that the parents of the children had to make a difficult choice for the survival of their children they still should have pursued the legal process before just handing their children over to a stranger. Second, Ms. Silsby should have also followed the same protocols before she took possession of the children. I know that all the parties involved had good intentions, however, act on your intentions in a legal way.