Utah

Man Who Tricked Parents Into Adoptions Sentenced to Probation

Submitted by JulieC on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 23:38

Another news headline recently caught my eyes, and once again it seems as though the criminal is getting off too easy for the pain and heartache that they caused.

Dan Wakefield, of the now-defunct Focus on Children adoption agency, was sentenced to five years of probation, ordered to stay out of the adoption business for life, and was also ordered to make monthly contributions to a trust fund that will help adoptive Samoan children stay in touch with their birth parents, after tricking Samoan parents into relinquishing their children to adoption, under the guise that they would be educated in the Continental US, and would be returning home to their families when they turned 18.

On the flip side, because he wanted to be fair apparently, and lie his soul away to absolutely everyone involved, he assured the American families who were adopting these children, that they were all orphans. What a swell guy!
 

Texas Polygamist Case Update: FDLS in the News

Submitted by JulieC on Sun, 08/31/2008 - 00:22

Finally we have an update on the Texas Polygamist case that may have slipped the minds of many by now since it began all the way back in April. As a quick refresher, the government went into a FLDS sect with high suspicion but little evidence, and took 460 children that they had a hunch were being abused.

Turns out whether or not the children were being abused doesn’t really come into play if you don’t have sufficient evidence, which as we just went over, the police did not, so they began slowly making plans and agreements with the parents to allow some of the children to go back home.

Forget The Husband, Just Give Me My Baby. . .

Submitted by GuestBlogger on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 11:06

 

Emily PeeryThis guest blog was submitted by Emily Peery in response to our contest asking what changes our readers would like to see in the world of domestic or inter-country adoption. Emily, a native of western New York state who now lives in Utah, has three siblings who were adopted from Romania when she was in college. She and her husband adopted their son, now three, as an infant through a domestic open adoption. As they began to work on their second adoption, Emily was frustrated at the lack information and resources for adoptive families in Utah. She started a Web site, Adoption Utah, and says her goal is to create a nationwide conference to help families learn about their options as they seek to expand their families.

Adoption News: Utah Mom Charged With Killing Adopted Child, N.J. Leave Bill Advances

Submitted by VirginiaC on Sat, 03/15/2008 - 18:03

 

NewspapersA Utah woman has been charged with murdering a toddler adopted from Russia. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Kimberly Emelyantsev was charged with one count of first-degree murder in the March 7 death of a 14-month-old boy named Nikolai. Citing police and court records, the newspaper said an autopsy found the child had died from a skull fracture caused by blunt-force trauma. 

Both the woman and her husband, whom the newspaper named as Fyodor Emelyantsev, were also charged with child abuse for allegedly starving a second child they adopted from Russia, a four-year-old boy. According to the newspaper, the child had been admitted to a Salt Lake hospital three times since he was adopted in December, each time suffering from malnutrition and dehydration. The younger child was adopted in February.