Arizona politician's alleged adoption aide pleads guilty

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Jacques Billeaud, Associated Press
Updated 5:07 pm CST, Thursday, December 19, 2019



Photo: Rick Bowmer, AP
IMAGE 1 OF 3
File - In this Nov. 15, 2019, file photo, Paul Petersen, an Arizona elected official accused of running a multi-state adoption scheme, leaves court following an initial appearance on charges filed in the state in Salt Lake City. A woman accused of aiding a politician in metro Phoenix in what authorities say was an illegal adoption scheme involving women from the Marshall Islands has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and theft charges. Lynwood Jennet admitted in court Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019, that she helped arrange benefits from Arizona's Medicaid program for expecting mothers who did not reside in the state.


PHOENIX (AP) — A woman accused of helping a metro Phoenix politician in what authorities have called an illegal adoption scheme involving women from the Marshall Islands pleaded guilty Thursday to helping arrange benefits from Arizona's Medicaid program for expecting mothers even though the women didn't live in the state.

Lynwood Jennet, 46, assisted the birth mothers in applying for the health benefits at the direction of Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen, who also works as an adoption attorney, authorities said.

Officials have said 28 Marshallese women gave birth in the Phoenix area as part of the scheme, costing Arizona more than $800,000 in health care expenses, and that their children were put up for adoption through Petersen.

Jennet also was accused of serving as a point of contact for people in the Marshall Islands who looked for pregnant women interested in coming to the United States to give up their children for adoption.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/medical/article/County-delays-decision-on-official-facing-14919105.php

[not fooled]

1. Let me guess

LDS?

Scheming to get more children to (probably) be raised in the church? Check.

Bilking the government out of services? Check.

Treating women like chattel broodmares? Check.

puke white guy who'll probably never see the inside of a prison? Who knows--I hope testimony from his aide sends him up the river.

[musette_sf]

3. Utah has the most, shall we say, flexible laws

around consent to adoption by the sperm donor. A lot of human trafficking, or as they call it, "adoption", goes on in Utah because it is easiest there to get around the required consent from the sperm donor.

Under Utah's law, a child aged six months or less can be adopted without the legal consent of an unmarried biological father unless the man has already initiated a petition to establish paternity.

[musette_sf]

2. Human trafficking

There is no other term to describe this.

[Ramsey Barner]

4. Paragraph 7: "Peterson, a Republican...."

[Firestorm49]

5. Ah, another Maricopa county stalwart.