Haiti Prosecutor Wants Prison Sentence for US Missionary Laura Silsby

Haiti prosecutor Sonel Jean-Francois argued that U.S. missionary Laura Silsby deserves a six-month prison sentence for attempting to move 33 children out of Haiti and in to the Dominican Republic immediately after the Jan. 12 earthquake. During the first day of Silsby's trial on Thursday, Jean-Francois pushed for the sentence and was unmoved by Silsby's own testimony. The Haiti prosecutor insisted that the Baptist missionary knew all along that what she was doing was wrong.

"Laura recognized she violated the law," Jean-Francois said as lawyers and a small group of spectators crowded into a a stiflingly hot tent in the parking lot of the quake-damaged courthouse.[ ]

"If the United States had an earthquake, that would not give you the right to take children," Jean-Francois said. Source: Haiti prosecutors urge prison for US missionary, Associated Press

Last Thursday's trial began with Laura Silsby's own testimony. During most of her time on the stand, she concentrated on conveying her good intentions rather than the substance of her actions.

The 40-year-old businesswoman told the court she thought the children were orphans whose homes were destroyed in the earthquake. An Associated Press investigation later revealed all the children had at least one living parent who had turned their children over to the group in hopes of securing better lives for them.

"One week after the earthquake, I left my family and my home to help children that had been orphaned in the earthquake," Silsby said. "We came here with a heart to help."

She identified her occupation as "manager of an orphanage," referring to the institution she had hoped to create in the northern Dominican Republic. There are no kids there; the children she tried to transport have been returned to their parents.

Silsby sat quietly through the rest of Thursday's proceedings, dressed in a black shirt and denim skirt, while her Haitian lawyers argued on her behalf. Hers was the only foreign face in the room other than AP journalists. Three men arrested for other crimes sat behind her in handcuffs. Source: Haiti prosecutors urge prison for US missionary, Associated Press

Laura Silsby choked back tears during her testimony. She's been in custody since Jan. 29th.