In 1997, 6 year old Osmin Ricardo Tobar and his infant brother Jeffrey were removed from their mother's home due to allegations of  abuse made by an associate of an adoption attorney. There was no formal investigation of whether there was abuse, and the children were placed in the adoption attorney's orphanage.

Ricardo and Jeffery's mother, Flor de Maria Ramirez, denied that she was ever abusive or neglectful, and she fought for custody of the boys. Ricardo's father, Gustavo Amilcar Tobar Fajardo, was not notified that the boys were removed from the home.

Nonetheless, the adoption attorney Susana Luarca (who also owned the orphanage) and judge, Aida Marizuya Rabasso, who worked regularly together, deprived Flor of custody, refused to place the boys with other willing family members, and found new US adoptive homes for both boys.

When Ricardo's father learned the boys had been removed from the home and adopted, he began a fight to regain custody. After Gustavo complained that Susana Luarca had placed his son illegally, he was attacked by two men with machetes who cut him on his hands, arms, and face. The men said he should stop talking.

To this day, Gustavo Tobar is working with Casa Alianza to have the adoption reversed. Ricardo is believed to be in Pennsylvania, Jeffrey in Houston TX.

Date: 1997-08-06

Number of children: 2

Location

Guatemala, Guatemala
Guatemala