Official quits amid charges he paid women to give up babies

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By JACQUES BILLEAUD

PHOENIX (AP) — An elected official in metro Phoenix resigned Tuesday, months after being charged with running a human smuggling operation that paid pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to give up their babies in the U.S.

The resignation of Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen came after leaders in the one of the nation’s most populous counties suspended and pressured him to resign after his arrest nearly three months ago. The county’s governing board voted in late December to start the process of removing Petersen, who also works as an adoption attorney.

He is accused of illegally paying women from the Pacific island nation to come to the United States to give up their babies in at least 70 adoption cases in Arizona, Utah and Arkansas over three years. Citizens of the Marshall Islands have been prohibited from traveling to the U.S. for adoption purposes since 2003.

In a statement released by his attorneys, Petersen proclaimed his innocence and said he never neglected his duties as assessor, responsible for determining the property values in the county. The Republican said county officials and news organizations presumed he was guilty.



FILE - In this Nov. 15, 2019, file photo, Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen leaves court in Salt Lake City. He resigned from his elected position on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020, months after being charged with running a human smuggling operation that paid pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to give up their babies in the U.S. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/7a9bd4b575f067fe2aa23a3155398223

[keithbvadu2]

1. And cheated Medicaid for their care.

And cheated Medicaid for their care.

[Demovictory9]

4. crook

[fierywoman]

2. An anti-abortion person, I presume?

[Hekate]

3. IIRC from when this first broke, his connection to the Marshall Is. was that he served his Mormon...

...mission there. So, while it is entirely possible that he rationalized his behavior in some way ("helping" poor unwed women or something), the fact is that he monetized his religious experience to benefit himself -- and he broke secular law, bigly.

[riversedge]

6. Taking advantage of the poor and distressed is one of the worst things anyone can do in my book.

[mysteryowl]

5. Why is he not in jail?

[Farmer-Rick]

7. Buying babies for cheap and selling them high

Capitalism and slavery combine so well.