PLYMOUTH WOMAN ORDERED TO HALT ADOPTION SERVICE

Boston Globe

A Suffolk Superior Court judge yesterday issued a temporary injunction restraining a Plymouth woman from running an unlicensed adoption service that allegedly solicited thousands of dollars from couples after promising to place Latin American children in their homes.

Judge Rudolph Pierce issued the order preventing Suzanne Champney of Plymouth, president of Los Ninos de Amor Inc., from engaging in adoption services without a license and forbidding the use of unfair and deceptive practices.

Pierce's order came two weeks after Atty. Gen. Francis X. Bellotti filed a civil suit charging Champney with accepting applications and soliciting $2000 fees from 25 couples who were seeking to adopt Guatemalan children.

The suit, which seeks a $300,000 fine, alleges that Champney promised to deliver the children even though they were unavailable for adoption when she accepted applications in late 1983 and early 1984. State law prohibits individuals and unlicensed agencies from placing or assisting in the placement of children for adoption.

"On numerous occasions, Mrs. Champney represented to would-be adoptive parents and others that funds she received would be used to pay for care and maintenance of children and for legal and other costs," the suit said. "In fact, on many occasions the money was not used in the way she represented."

Champney's attorney, John O'Dea, said yesterday his client applied for a license and is waiting for it to be approved by the state. "She works with licensed agencies and there are a lot of people who are very happy and satisfied because of her work," O'Dea said.

But Assistant Atty. Gen. Paul H. Merry told the court yesterday he has collected affidavits from several dissatisfied couples, including a couple from Minnesota who claim that Champney placed an ailing Guatemalan infant in their home after telling them that the baby was in excellent health and free from any physical or psychological abnormalities.