Idaho Church Group Jailed In Haiti Accused Of Child Trafficking

A Northwest church group that wanted to go to Haiti to help children affected by the deadly earthquake are sitting in a Port-Au-Prince Jail tonight.

Many of the folks are from the Central Valley Baptist Church of Idaho. 10 of them went to Haiti on a mission of helping the kids get a new life. But, while they were trying to bus those kids out of the country into the Dominican Republic they were arrested Friday night at the border.

The church members are part of the Idaho Based "New Life Children's Refuge."

The Haitian Government says they didn't have the proper paper work to leave the country with the kids. Also, tonight a Haitian Government Official says the kids are crying saying they want to see their parents. The children are now in an Haitian orphanage, and the woman that runs it says many of the kids have relatives still in Haiti.

So, now begins the tug of war about getting these people out of jail and what to do with the kids. It could be difficult. The 5 men and 5 women are supposed to go before a Haitian judge sometime tomorrow. Some reports have the group already charged with child trafficking or kidnapping. Where will the kids end up, nobody knows for sure.

Back in Idaho Clint Henry who is the Senior Pastor at Central Valley Baptist Church says this is a big misunderstanding and that his church members were there to help the kids.

One of the church members being detained in Haiti is Laura Silsby. She says they wanted to take the kids to a makeshift orphanage in the Dominican Republic to get them food, water, and medicine.