LilMtnCbn
02-29-2004, 07:16 AM
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/107797326625
5143.xml
Adoption ruse torments couples
Joella Kern left a trail of broken hearts by promising couples babies from
surrogates who never existed, authorities say
02/29/04
NOELLE CROMBIE
Sheree and David Compton flew from Tickfaw, La., to Portland in February 2002,
toting a suitcase packed with two sets of new clothes for babies they had long
dreamed of having.
For months, they had negotiated with Joella Kern, who lived in Washington and
then Oregon and had promised to link them with a surrogate mother for $500. The
Comptons were thrilled when Kern told them the birth mother was expecting
twins.
The couple were desperate to have children after a failed in vitro
fertilization process emotionally devastated them. Sheree picked out names --
Austin and Avery -- and spent several hundred dollars buying tiny jumpsuits and
matching socks.
Before the couple left for Oregon, Sheree Compton made one more call to Kern:
"Please tell me this is real," she told Kern. "Please. I have already been
hurt. I don't want to come to Oregon if this is not going to happen."
But after a week of waiting at a Portland hotel for Kern to bring them Austin
and Avery, the Comptons returned to Tickfaw empty-handed and heartbroken.
Federal agents and prosecutors in Oregon and Washington said the Comptons --
and eight other couples from across the country -- were victims of an elaborate
fraud in which Kern preyed on victims' emotional vulnerability.
"It's a heartbreaking case," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire M. Fay, who is
prosecuting Kern. "She has taken advantage of people who are the most
vulnerable, people who want a child so badly they are willing to sacrifice
anything. Unfortunately, in this case, they were tricked."
Kern, 36, has been indicted on 24 counts of wire fraud in Washington and
Oregon, and faces trials in April in U.S. District Court in Portland and in
Yakima. Federal authorities said that between December 2001 and December 2002 ,
Kern used the Internet to promise couples she would either locate surrogate
mothers for them or act as a surrogate mother herself.
Authorities said Kern was living in Eastern Washington when some of the fraud
took place. She later moved to Joseph and opened a bar called The Cowboy Bar
and Gold Room, according to court documents.
Several attempts to reach Kern by phone and e-mail addresses listed in court
documents were unsuccessful.
Her attorney, Stephen Sady, an assistant federal public defender, said he did
not want to comment on the case before trial.
"I don't think it's appropriate at this time to provide any comment, other than
without the other side of the story you don't know what really happened," he
said.
According to federal authorities, court documents and some of the couples, Kern
became elusive when it came time for the couples to receive their babies. She
often told the couples she had been diagnosed with cancer, or that her mother
had died, and that she needed to take a break from the adoption process.
The financial loss from Kern's schemes totals about $45,000, said John
Kirkwood, resident agent in charge for the U.S. Secret Service office in
Spokane.
The most shocking part of the crime, he said, is the emotional toll it took on
victims.
"The pain they endured as a result of the promises that were made is one of the
strong parts of the case," said Kirkwood, who investigated the case.
Mil Lucido, a friend of Sheree Compton's, said Kern appeared to be a legitimate
adoption broker. Lucido, who lives in Independence, La., contacted Kern in
early December 2001 to discuss the possibility of arranging the private
adoption of a baby girl.
The two women spoke daily for weeks. Lucido even e-mailed Kern a photograph of
her family.
Lucido said Kern never asked for money, saying she could be paid after the
adoption process.
At Kern's advice, Mil and Wayne Lucido shuttered their truck repair shop and
flew, with their four children, to Portland to pick up what they thought would
be the newest addition to their family. The Lucidos spent $7,000 on the trip.
But there was no baby girl.
Kern said the birth mother had reconsidered the arrangement and decided against
it.
Lucido was confused and devastated.
"I am just so heartbroken," she said. "My heart feels like it's been through a
shredder."
The Lucidos returned to Louisiana and eventually adopted a baby girl. They
named her Asia -- the same name they had picked out for the baby they hoped to
adopt in Oregon.
But Mil Lucido said she can't forget what Kern did.
"She's not playing with people's money," Lucido said. "Money is tangible. It's
there and gone. When you are playing with people's lives and hearts, you are
going to do a lot of damage."
Compton poured her heart out to Kern when they first started talking about
adoption in October 2001. She described how she and her husband wanted to adopt
a child, and how an unsuccessful in vitro fertilization attempt cost them
$12,000. Kern listened. She seemed compassionate. She promised to help.
Compton sent Kern $500.
The two chatted on the phone and e-mailed each other daily. Kern told Compton
the birth mother's name was Eileen. She told the couple that Eileen had written
them a poem she called "The Gift."
Eileen, Kern said, was going to have twins. Buy two of everything, and get
ready to bring the babies home, Kern said.
Compton told Kern she wanted to talk to Eileen. But Kern, she said, made
excuses about why the birth mother couldn't call.
Still, Compton believed in Kern.
"You are vulnerable when you are trying to adopt," she said. "You are at
somebody's mercy."
The Comptons spent $3,000 on their trip to Portland. They brought a suitcase
brimming with baby things: little bows and headbands for Avery, matching socks
for every outfit, and thick blankets.
But Kern was elusive when the Comptons arrived in Portland. Kern had told the
Comptons that the twins were being delivered at Legacy Emanuel Hospital &
Health Center, but hospital staff had no records of a birth mother named
Eileen.
Shocked, the Comptons returned to Louisiana.
"The girl totally devastated my world," Compton said.
The Comptons went on to adopt a baby boy they named Austin, but Sheree Compton
said she still feels a sense of loss from the deception.
"It was horrendous," she said. "It was like they had died and yet they never
existed. It still tears me up to know that I went through that."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
5143.xml
Adoption ruse torments couples
Joella Kern left a trail of broken hearts by promising couples babies from
surrogates who never existed, authorities say
02/29/04
NOELLE CROMBIE
Sheree and David Compton flew from Tickfaw, La., to Portland in February 2002,
toting a suitcase packed with two sets of new clothes for babies they had long
dreamed of having.
For months, they had negotiated with Joella Kern, who lived in Washington and
then Oregon and had promised to link them with a surrogate mother for $500. The
Comptons were thrilled when Kern told them the birth mother was expecting
twins.
The couple were desperate to have children after a failed in vitro
fertilization process emotionally devastated them. Sheree picked out names --
Austin and Avery -- and spent several hundred dollars buying tiny jumpsuits and
matching socks.
Before the couple left for Oregon, Sheree Compton made one more call to Kern:
"Please tell me this is real," she told Kern. "Please. I have already been
hurt. I don't want to come to Oregon if this is not going to happen."
But after a week of waiting at a Portland hotel for Kern to bring them Austin
and Avery, the Comptons returned to Tickfaw empty-handed and heartbroken.
Federal agents and prosecutors in Oregon and Washington said the Comptons --
and eight other couples from across the country -- were victims of an elaborate
fraud in which Kern preyed on victims' emotional vulnerability.
"It's a heartbreaking case," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire M. Fay, who is
prosecuting Kern. "She has taken advantage of people who are the most
vulnerable, people who want a child so badly they are willing to sacrifice
anything. Unfortunately, in this case, they were tricked."
Kern, 36, has been indicted on 24 counts of wire fraud in Washington and
Oregon, and faces trials in April in U.S. District Court in Portland and in
Yakima. Federal authorities said that between December 2001 and December 2002 ,
Kern used the Internet to promise couples she would either locate surrogate
mothers for them or act as a surrogate mother herself.
Authorities said Kern was living in Eastern Washington when some of the fraud
took place. She later moved to Joseph and opened a bar called The Cowboy Bar
and Gold Room, according to court documents.
Several attempts to reach Kern by phone and e-mail addresses listed in court
documents were unsuccessful.
Her attorney, Stephen Sady, an assistant federal public defender, said he did
not want to comment on the case before trial.
"I don't think it's appropriate at this time to provide any comment, other than
without the other side of the story you don't know what really happened," he
said.
According to federal authorities, court documents and some of the couples, Kern
became elusive when it came time for the couples to receive their babies. She
often told the couples she had been diagnosed with cancer, or that her mother
had died, and that she needed to take a break from the adoption process.
The financial loss from Kern's schemes totals about $45,000, said John
Kirkwood, resident agent in charge for the U.S. Secret Service office in
Spokane.
The most shocking part of the crime, he said, is the emotional toll it took on
victims.
"The pain they endured as a result of the promises that were made is one of the
strong parts of the case," said Kirkwood, who investigated the case.
Mil Lucido, a friend of Sheree Compton's, said Kern appeared to be a legitimate
adoption broker. Lucido, who lives in Independence, La., contacted Kern in
early December 2001 to discuss the possibility of arranging the private
adoption of a baby girl.
The two women spoke daily for weeks. Lucido even e-mailed Kern a photograph of
her family.
Lucido said Kern never asked for money, saying she could be paid after the
adoption process.
At Kern's advice, Mil and Wayne Lucido shuttered their truck repair shop and
flew, with their four children, to Portland to pick up what they thought would
be the newest addition to their family. The Lucidos spent $7,000 on the trip.
But there was no baby girl.
Kern said the birth mother had reconsidered the arrangement and decided against
it.
Lucido was confused and devastated.
"I am just so heartbroken," she said. "My heart feels like it's been through a
shredder."
The Lucidos returned to Louisiana and eventually adopted a baby girl. They
named her Asia -- the same name they had picked out for the baby they hoped to
adopt in Oregon.
But Mil Lucido said she can't forget what Kern did.
"She's not playing with people's money," Lucido said. "Money is tangible. It's
there and gone. When you are playing with people's lives and hearts, you are
going to do a lot of damage."
Compton poured her heart out to Kern when they first started talking about
adoption in October 2001. She described how she and her husband wanted to adopt
a child, and how an unsuccessful in vitro fertilization attempt cost them
$12,000. Kern listened. She seemed compassionate. She promised to help.
Compton sent Kern $500.
The two chatted on the phone and e-mailed each other daily. Kern told Compton
the birth mother's name was Eileen. She told the couple that Eileen had written
them a poem she called "The Gift."
Eileen, Kern said, was going to have twins. Buy two of everything, and get
ready to bring the babies home, Kern said.
Compton told Kern she wanted to talk to Eileen. But Kern, she said, made
excuses about why the birth mother couldn't call.
Still, Compton believed in Kern.
"You are vulnerable when you are trying to adopt," she said. "You are at
somebody's mercy."
The Comptons spent $3,000 on their trip to Portland. They brought a suitcase
brimming with baby things: little bows and headbands for Avery, matching socks
for every outfit, and thick blankets.
But Kern was elusive when the Comptons arrived in Portland. Kern had told the
Comptons that the twins were being delivered at Legacy Emanuel Hospital &
Health Center, but hospital staff had no records of a birth mother named
Eileen.
Shocked, the Comptons returned to Louisiana.
"The girl totally devastated my world," Compton said.
The Comptons went on to adopt a baby boy they named Austin, but Sheree Compton
said she still feels a sense of loss from the deception.
"It was horrendous," she said. "It was like they had died and yet they never
existed. It still tears me up to know that I went through that."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
