Port-au-Prince, Feb 3 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Ten Americans tried to illegally take 33 children out of the country, and they are now being held in Haiti. Their first court hearing would be held on Monday afternoon, according to the U.S. State Department. Mr. P.J. Crowley, who is a department spokesman, said on Monday that, “U.S. and Haitian authorities are working to try to ascertain what happened [and] the motive behind these people. Clearly there are questions about procedure as to whether they had the appropriate paperwork to move the children.”

The Americans tried to take the children across the border into the Dominican Republic, but they were not allowed to do so. Some of the Americans were also members of the Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho. However in their defense, the missionaries said that they were just trying to help the children, by aiding them to start life afresh. Central Valley’s pastor, Clint Henry, reinforced this point again on Monday, saying the group’s intentions were “upright and pure.” He said that the intention was just to go down and try to help the orphaned children.

The pastor said that they wanted to start a new orphanage, so that they could keep the children safe and happy there in that temporary place.