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Ten American missionaries have been detained in Haiti for trying to take 33 children out of the country after the earthquake on January 12th.
Pastor Jean Sainvil says he gave the missionaries permission to move a busload of Haitian children to the Dominican Republic, but he says the Idaho group didn't complete the required paperwork.
The missionaries were later arrested after Haitian authorities said they tried crossing the border without documents a week ago Friday.
As mission organizer Laura Silsby entered the court in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti Thursday, she told reporters, “We expect god's will be done. And we will be released.”
Thursday’s session was held behind closed doors, Haitian attorney Edwin Coq' said the 10 Americans have been charged with child kidnapping and criminal association.
The maximum sentence for kidnapping is 15 years, while the association charge carries a maximum sentence of nine years.
Coq said, there won't be an open trial, but a judge will consider the evidence and could issue a verdict in about three months. The missionaries were whisked away to a jail in Haiti’s capital of Port-Au-Prince.
Haiti's prime minister has suggested the ten Americans could be sent back to the U.S. for prosecution.
Source: KMVT and CNN
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