By Aurora Weiss

VIENNA, 31 May 2023 (IDN) — A case that may implicate Croatian bureaucrats came to light in December 2022 when an alert immigration officer at Zambia’s Ndola airport detained eight Croatian citizens on suspicion of child trafficking and falsification of documents.

At the start, the validity of the documents on the adoption of children from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was questionable because international adoptions from there have been completely prohibited since 2017. The suspected persons have since been officially arrested and charged with attempted child trafficking, and the trial is about to be heard in the Supreme Court in Zambia.*

A Congolese lawyer who was an intermediary in issuing false adoption documents was arrested too. He has admitted that everything took place outside the rule of law.

At the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) on 21 March, after several months of silence, Dickson Matembo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security of Zambia, for the first time confirmed the long-awaited information.

The arrest affidavit details abuse, including beating the children with an archery arrow, a belt and their hand and making them eat out of the trash.

Author: Zak Wellerman

TYLER, Texas — Editor's Note: The above video was published on May 19, 2023. 

A Smith County woman convicted of abusing her adopted twin teenage sons in 2019 was sentenced to six years' probation after accepting a plea deal Tuesday morning.

Cheryl Layne, of Whitehouse, who is a nurse practitioner, was found guilty of injury to a child on Friday after a jury reached a decision nearly six hours later.

Her trial began Tuesday and jurors began deliberating for a verdict around 11 a.m. Friday.

Author: Zak Wellerman, Jesus Martinez

TYLER, Texas — A Smith County woman has been found guilty of abusing her adopted twin teenage sons in 2019 following a four-day trial and hours of jury deliberations. 

Cheryl Layne, of Whitehouse, who is a nurse practitioner, was charged with four counts of injury to a child with the intent to cause bodily injury in September 2019. 

Her trial began Tuesday and jurors started deliberating around 11 a.m. Friday. They returned almost six hours later to convict Cheryl Layne of injury to a child.

Anurag Kamble

A woman doctor has been detained by the cops for selling babies in Ulhasnagar. A social activist posed as a mother and met the doctor three months ago seeking a son, but the doctor couldn't arrange for one immediately. However, a couple of days ago the doctor called the woman and said she could procure a boy against a payment of Rs 7 lakh. The doctor was caught red-handed while handing over the baby.

Social activists had got a hint about Dr Chitra Chainani being involved in the baby-selling racket and decided to expose her. Her clinic is located at Meena Apartment, Bhagat Singh Kawa Ram Chowk area of Camp Number 3 in Ulhasnagar. The business of selling children had started from this clinic some time ago. While locals knew of this business for many years, no one had the courage to come forward.

During her testimony, Cheryl Lane, of Whitehouse, admitted she hit one of the twins with an archery arrow, but she claimed it was reasonable corporal punishment.

Author: Zak Wellerman, Jesus Martinez

TYLER, Texas — A Smith County woman accused of abusing her adopted twin teenage sons in 2019 was emotional as she testified on her own behalf and also spoke about striking one of the children with an arrow Thursday afternoon.

During her testimony, Cheryl Layne, of Whitehouse, admitted she hit one of the twins with an archery arrow, but she claimed it was reasonable corporal punishment.

Cheryl Layne said she had to use corporal punishment in the past with all her children by using a belt, a fly swatter, a spoon, grabbing them by the ear, or by something that was handy.

JIMMY JENKINS   Arizona Republic

Two sons of a Maricopa "YouTube Mom," who was indicted on child abuse charges, have been charged with sexual misconduct with minors.

An indictment from February in Maricopa County Superior Court accuses Logan and Ryan Hackney of several counts of sexual misconduct with minors.

Attorneys for the Hackneys did not respond to a request for comment.

The Hackneys are the adult sons of Machelle Hobson, She was arrested in 2019 and accused of beating and starving seven adopted children who she forced to produce popular YouTube videos in their Pinal County home in the city of Maricopa.

ALBERTO LUPERON

When a “YouTube Mom” died of natural causes in 2019, it of course ended the criminal case against her, but a legacy of alleged abuse continues to haunt the family as her sons have been charged with molestation. Logan Hackney, 31, faces four counts of sexual conduct with a minor. Ryan Hackney, 29, faces two counts of the same crime.

The brothers’ ignominious claim to fame is through their mother, Machelle Hobson. She died of natural causes in 2019 ahead of trial for allegedly abusing her adoptive children and forcing them to star in her videos for the now-defunct YouTube channel “Fantastic Adventures.” Hobson was accused of an array of horrifying acts. For example, she allegedly pepper-sprayed the children all over their bodies, including their genitals; and she allegedly shut them in a closet without access to food, water, or a bathroom.

The children were known for appearing on the “Fantastic Adventurers” channel, which garnered over 700,000 subscribers before YouTube took it down. Life was full of terror behind the scenes, cops said. Hobson allegedly abused them if they forgot their lines or tried to get out of the videos, and she allegedly took them out of school to act in the productions. They hadn’t gone to class in “years,” the kids said, according to police.

The abuse left its mark, both physical and mental, cops said. According to investigators, the adopted children looked malnourished and said they were thirsty and hungry. One boy drank three bottles of water in under 20 minutes, police said. Another girl was offered a bag of chips but was afraid to eat it because she didn’t want her mother to smell the food on her breath, according to authorities.

Cheryl Layne, of Whitehouse, a nurse practitioner, is charged with four counts of injury to a child with the intent to cause bodily injury.

Author: Zak Wellerman, Jesus Martinez

WHITEHOUSE, Texas — After concluding witness testimony Wednesday, the prosecution rested its case in the trial of a Smith County woman accused of abusing her adopted twin sons, who were 13 years old at the time, in 2019.

Cheryl Layne, a nurse practitioner, is charged with four counts of injury to a child with the intent to cause bodily injury.

She and her husband, Mark Layne (a Tyler Police Department officer at the time) were both arrested in September 2019 after the 13-year-old twins reported being abused by their adopted parents to a school resource officer.

Adam Crapser was sent to adoptive parents in the US during the 1970s – a period described as mass ‘child export’ from South Korea

By Nicola Smith

A court in South Korea has ordered the country’s biggest adoption agency to pay £60,000 in damages for mishandling a man’s adoption as a young boy to the United States, where he suffered an abusive childhood.

Adam Crapser, 48, was sent with his sister to adoptive parents in the US in the 1970s, during what has been described as a period of mass “child export” from South Korea.

A Telegraph investigation into the phenomenon found that, between the mid-1950s to the late 1980s, some 200,000 South Korean babies were adopted by families in the US and Europe – many of whom were put up for adoption under false pretences. 

Maria Damm Hansen. Adopted at 1 year old. Currently 46 years old. Denmark.

For 46 years I was told, and I believed, that I was an orphan and a foundling, adopted from Namkwang Children’s Home through the Korea Social Service (KSS). Everything is a lie and today KSS tells me a totally different story.

I was born on Oct. 4, 1976, and referred to KSS immediately after birth through San Ho Midwifery Clinic located in the Sadang neighborhood of Gwanak District, Seoul. Within 24 hours of my life, I was ready for adoption.

Furthermore, KSS tells me that I have a biological mother (last name Lee) and a biological father (last name Yom), three siblings, and that I have a fraternal twin brother. Because of extreme poverty, my biological father decided to keep and raise my twin brother and release me for adoption.

This new information has come to me as a shock and my whole identity has been turned upside down. I do not feel upset or angry in any way toward my biological parents. But I am devastated to find that the adoption bureaus have treated me and so many other adoptees like pieces of furniture, lied to us about our whole adoption and identity, in an attempt to ensure that it would be almost impossible to find one’s biological family and find the truth — even today. KSS still denies me access to valuable information they claim they have.