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Mississippi: Questions linger about Barretos’ seven foreign adoptions
From the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal:
Ramon and Janet Barreto were approved three times across two years to adopt seven children from Guatemala, according to documents from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Memphis.
Several years before, they had adopted a daughter with a health problem. They reportedly kept her in a cage in a closet off and on for six years. Then, they re-adopted her to a friend.
Thirteen months ago, the Barretos fled Union County as they faced prosecution in the manslaughter death of one of those children, 2-year-old Enna. They also face trial for six counts of child endangerment and three for felony child abuse.
Janet’s teenage daughter, Marainna Torres, admitted she spanked Enna, on her mother’s orders, then killed her when she threw her into a baby bed May 19, 2008. She told case investigators in a 72-minute interview after her arrest about her life and these children’s lives in a home of filth and abuse.
Federal, state and local law enforcement continue efforts to find the Barretos. Some believe they are in Mexico, where Ramon has family.
But through the process to adopt the seven, it appears that few, if any, probing questions were asked about the couple or the situation into which these children were headed.
Torres said that just before Enna died, her mother had begun an Internet push to “re-sell” two of the female children.
Access the entire article here.
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