TOPEKA – U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback and U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins said they’re checking into the case of a Topeka firefighter who is one of 10 American missionaries who have been arrested and accused of trying to take children out of Haiti without permission. Drew Culberth is part of a Baptist missionary group arrested while trying to take Haitian orphans into the Dominican Republic. ABC Radio reported that the Haitian government is taking a hard-line in the case but said it could allow prosecutions to be done in the U.S. There’s a history in Haiti of child trafficking, with people with evil intentions taking children and selling them into slavery or prostitution. However, that’s not the case here, most people involved in the case said. Laura Spilsby, the head of the group, defended her group, telling ABC they have been caring for and comforting the children. The Haitian government said some of the children had parents who signed them over to the missionaries willingly. Some of the children had leaflets in their pockets, advertising the New Life Children’s Refuge in the Dominican Republic.
