Roberta
01-05-2004, 02:11 PM
Jolie caught in middle of FBI baby-buying probe: Adoption agency may have paid
for Cambodian boy 'like livestock'
SOURCE: The Times, London
BYLINE: John Harlow
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
BODY:
LOS ANGELES -- Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie is facing a threat as dark
as any cinematic monster she destroyed as Lara Croft, the action heroine:
police in Seattle are considering whether to take away her baby.
FBI investigators have closed the Seattle adoption agency that "rescued" baby
Maddox from a Cambodian orphanage, claiming that children it delivered to
western parents were not orphans but were bought from desperate rural mothers
for as little as a $150 "tip."
Ms. Jolie has been advised by lawyers to say nothing until the FBI completes
Operation Broken Hearts, but speaking last week from Egypt she insisted that
she had gone to "great lengths" to ensure Maddox did not have a living birth
mother in Cambodia when she and Billy Bob Thornton, her then-husband, arranged
the adoption two years ago.
"I would never rob a mother of her child. I can only imagine how dreadful that
would feel," Ms. Jolie said.
"If a parent has survived, then I would want to meet them, I would want Maddox
to meet them, but I have not seen any evidence that either parent of Maddox was
still alive.
"Maddox is my baby, he is by my side all the time, and I think I can give him
so much. I can no more imagine living without him than not breathing. Yes, my
brain is obviously running over with worries, not just for Maddox but for all
the babies and parents concerned."
She has already chosen between Maddox and Mr. Thornton, who complained that she
was too devoted to the child and left their home. Would she choose between
Hollywood and Cambodia if she had to live with Maddox in his native land, where
she has a home? "In a heartbeat. Nothing means more to me than his happiness."
It has been reported that the 28-year-old actress, who won an Oscar for her
role in Girl, Interrupted, paid Seattle International Adoptions up to $350,000
to arrange the paperwork and deliver the baby to her when she was working on a
film about refugees in March 2002 in Namibia.
Last month Lynn Devin, the agency's founder, pleaded guilty to conspiracy
charges for falsely claiming that adopted children were orphans and allowed the
FBI to dismantle her organization. Exactly who among her clients received
"black market babies" remains locked in confidential court documents.
Police have refused to say whether Maddox is a legal or illegal adoption,
adding: "We are looking at all cases."
The adoption of Maddox was "facilitated" by a relative of Ms. Devin, a
colourful Hawaiian named Lauryn Galindo, 52, who is also facing conspiracy
charges.
While refusing to discuss Ms. Jolie directly, Ms. Galindo denied doing anything
wrong. "The Americans and the Cambodians have different definitions of the
50,000 children in orphanages. American officials say both parents have to be
dead to count as orphans, but in Cambodia it is enough to say they have given
up or disappeared and in that poor country that is all too common," she is
quoted as saying.
Dr. Kek Galabru, head of the Cambodian human rights agency Licadho, said he
felt for Ms. Jolie: "The worst you can say is that she acted with her heart
rather than her head, but I believe that the child still has at least one
parent in Cambodia. I do not think he was either orphaned or abandoned, but
paid for like livestock."
Roberta
mom to Juliette, 7, adopted from China
for Cambodian boy 'like livestock'
SOURCE: The Times, London
BYLINE: John Harlow
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
BODY:
LOS ANGELES -- Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie is facing a threat as dark
as any cinematic monster she destroyed as Lara Croft, the action heroine:
police in Seattle are considering whether to take away her baby.
FBI investigators have closed the Seattle adoption agency that "rescued" baby
Maddox from a Cambodian orphanage, claiming that children it delivered to
western parents were not orphans but were bought from desperate rural mothers
for as little as a $150 "tip."
Ms. Jolie has been advised by lawyers to say nothing until the FBI completes
Operation Broken Hearts, but speaking last week from Egypt she insisted that
she had gone to "great lengths" to ensure Maddox did not have a living birth
mother in Cambodia when she and Billy Bob Thornton, her then-husband, arranged
the adoption two years ago.
"I would never rob a mother of her child. I can only imagine how dreadful that
would feel," Ms. Jolie said.
"If a parent has survived, then I would want to meet them, I would want Maddox
to meet them, but I have not seen any evidence that either parent of Maddox was
still alive.
"Maddox is my baby, he is by my side all the time, and I think I can give him
so much. I can no more imagine living without him than not breathing. Yes, my
brain is obviously running over with worries, not just for Maddox but for all
the babies and parents concerned."
She has already chosen between Maddox and Mr. Thornton, who complained that she
was too devoted to the child and left their home. Would she choose between
Hollywood and Cambodia if she had to live with Maddox in his native land, where
she has a home? "In a heartbeat. Nothing means more to me than his happiness."
It has been reported that the 28-year-old actress, who won an Oscar for her
role in Girl, Interrupted, paid Seattle International Adoptions up to $350,000
to arrange the paperwork and deliver the baby to her when she was working on a
film about refugees in March 2002 in Namibia.
Last month Lynn Devin, the agency's founder, pleaded guilty to conspiracy
charges for falsely claiming that adopted children were orphans and allowed the
FBI to dismantle her organization. Exactly who among her clients received
"black market babies" remains locked in confidential court documents.
Police have refused to say whether Maddox is a legal or illegal adoption,
adding: "We are looking at all cases."
The adoption of Maddox was "facilitated" by a relative of Ms. Devin, a
colourful Hawaiian named Lauryn Galindo, 52, who is also facing conspiracy
charges.
While refusing to discuss Ms. Jolie directly, Ms. Galindo denied doing anything
wrong. "The Americans and the Cambodians have different definitions of the
50,000 children in orphanages. American officials say both parents have to be
dead to count as orphans, but in Cambodia it is enough to say they have given
up or disappeared and in that poor country that is all too common," she is
quoted as saying.
Dr. Kek Galabru, head of the Cambodian human rights agency Licadho, said he
felt for Ms. Jolie: "The worst you can say is that she acted with her heart
rather than her head, but I believe that the child still has at least one
parent in Cambodia. I do not think he was either orphaned or abandoned, but
paid for like livestock."
Roberta
mom to Juliette, 7, adopted from China
