WASHINGTON- The judge in the case of the 10 American Baptist missionaries accused of trying to take 33 Haitian children from the country without proper authorization charged all of them Friday with "organizing irregular travel."
Examining Judge Bernard Saint-Vil brought the additional charge against the 10 Americans, who were arrested in January, even though nine of them have been released on bail and have left the country.
The leader, Laura Silsby, remains jailed in Port-au-Prince.
The judge also rejected a petition for bail filed previously by Silsby's lawyers; a new bail petition was dropped off by Silsby lawyer Chiller Roy on Friday.
Saint-Vil told CNN he expects to complete his investigation into the charges against the missionaries next week.
He said he will then submit the dossier to the attorney general, who will have five working working days to give his opinion on the judge's findings.
The judge, once he receives the attorney general's opinion, will then announce whether he will proceed to trial.
The charges against all 10 Baptists and the penalties if they are found guilty are:
– Criminal association, 3-15 years
– Kidnapping of a minor, 3-9 years
– Organizing irregular travel, 3-6 years.
Silsby originally said the children were orphaned or abandoned, but CNN determined that more than 20 of them had at least one living parent. Some parents said they placed their children in Silsby's care because they thought that would ensure they would have a better life.
The group said it planned to house the children in a converted hotel in the Dominican Republic and later move them to an orphanage.
Source: LaredoSun
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