394 results for author: James R. Marsh


Something’s Rotten in the State of Pennsylvania

Don't take my word for it. Just ask Neils of the Pound Pup Legacy mega-adoption-website-blog. According to this crusading and data-driven site, Pennsylvania has a disproportionate number of adoption agencies compared to other states. Forget all that high-minded legalistic talk of "dealing in humanity," there's money to be made and many good Germans willing to look the other way. According to Neils With a total of 206 Pennsylvania has far more agencies than any other state. California, which is almost three times the size of Pennsylvania has 73 agencies less and Illinois which is very comparable in size to Pennsylvania has about half as many ...

Womb Outsourcing Threatens International Adoption

I guess it was only a matter of time before a simple straightforward technological solution was found to eliminate the abuses in international adoption. Today's New York Times highlights the Rent-a-Womb outsourcing movement in India. An enterprise known as reproductive outsourcing is a new but rapidly expanding business in India. Clinics that provide surrogate mothers for foreigners say they have recently been inundated with requests from the United States and Europe, as word spreads of India's mix of skilled medical professionals, relatively liberal laws and low prices. In 2003, I wrote about Sperm Donor Introductions for Lesbians and Snowflake ...

Global Corruption in the Global Village

The Joint Council on International Children's Services has a worldwide reach into some of the darkest corners of the child trafficking industry. Apparently so does Masha Allen's not-really adoption agency unless you believe Deborah Spivack, Families thru International Adoption. A concerned reader of this blog recently forwarded a large number of emails purportedly from FTIA's [CENSORED] Senior Coordinator [CENSORED]. In these emails from 2006, [CENSORED] details her close relationship with longtime JCICS past-president and board member Deb Murphy-Scheumann. In a message which begins "How did I get myself into this mess?" [CENSORED] outlines her ...

Pedo-Parents and the Child Welfare System

Late last year, [Kid's Voice](http://www.kidsvoice.org/default.aspx) executive director Scott Hollander, "argued that just because a person is on the Megan's Law Web site it doesn't mean they are a danger to their child." In a [televised interview](http://www.wpxi.com/news/14524742/detail.html#) on Pittsburgh's WPXI, Hollander--whose child advocacy organization approved Masha Allen's placement with and adoption by Faith Allen--admitted that "Megan's Law . . . raises a huge red flag that has to be investigated." Kid's Voice, which reps itself as "a voice of hope, a voice for rights and a voice of experience for children who otherwise cannot speak ...

Focus on Adoption – a Rogues Gallery

Let me keep it as simple as possible. Since as early as December 5, 2004, the "intercountry adoption advocacy organization" Focus on Adoption has been a virtual rogues gallery of the leading unethical playas in international adoption. On December 5, 2004, the FOA website listed Jeannene Smith as the organization's treasurer. Smith's name, along with Keith Wallace of Families thru International Adoption, appeared prominently in Masha Allen's October 7, 2003 Child Profile Study Report. Clearly Smith, along with Wallace, knew exactly what had become of "child porn star" Masha when Smith was promoted to an FOA officer. This from the FOA website: J...

Cambria County Casualty

Yesterday I learned that the international adoption agency most responsible for Masha Allen's placement with pedophile Matthew Mancuso (originally known as Reaching Out Thru International Adoption [ROTIA] and recently renamed ChildPromise) is discontinuing operations. A message from CP's executive director Sonia Baxter states that "due to our recent sad announcement regarding ceasing adoption activities, we are receiving many calls. Our goal is to insure that there's a calm and organized process to transferring cases and completing adoptions." Tragically, this is just one more defendant who will escape civil liability for the criminal acts perpet...

An Obscene Betrayal

The United States District Attorney in Pittsburgh, Mary Beth Buchanan, has widely taken credit for rescuing Masha Allen and delivering Matthew Mancuso to federal prison. Now Buchanan is once again capturing national attention for a controversial obscenity prosecution involving fictional stories on the website RedRoseStories.com about the kidnapping, rape and torture of children. The creator of the site, Karen Fletcher, is a social recluse who missed several court hearings in the case, United State v. Fletcher, because she is uncomfortable leaving her home in rural Pennsylvania. Fletcher claims she wrote the stories for therapeutic value to help ...