Haiti judge: Idaho leader tried this before

By Associated Press and KATU.com Staff Published: Mar 13, 2010 at 3:03 PM PST Last Updated: Mar 13, 2010 at 10:59 PM PST
U.S. missionary Laura Silsby
U.S. missionary Laura Silsby, 40, of Meridian, Idaho, arrested on child kidnapping charges, is escorted by police officers upon her arrival to the courthouse in Port-au-Prince, Monday, March 8, 2010. Photo courtesy Esteban Felix, Associated Press.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – The last of the 10 American missionaries detained in Haiti on suspicion of kidnapping is facing a new charge.

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said Laura Silsby, known as the group's ringleader, has been charged for a newly discovered and alleged attempt to bus child earthquake survivors to the Dominican Republic on Jan. 26.

Silsby already is under investigation for the Jan. 29 trip where she led nine other Americans on a bus trip attempting to take 33 Haitian children across the Haitian border, reportedly to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. She could face trial on kidnapping and criminal-association if charges are formalized in that case.

This new charge, added by Saint-Vil for the Jan 26 allegations, is "organization of irregular trips." The charge stems from a 1980 law restricting travel out of Haiti; the law was signed by then-dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier.

The judge said Friday he has until early May to decide whether to release Silsby or order a trial. The last of the other nine members of Silsby's "New Life Children's Refuge" team – most recruited from Silsby's Central Valley Baptist Church in Idaho – returned home to the U.S. Monday, March 8.