Adoption scheme appalls Latter-day Saints leader
Official faces human trafficking charges
A top leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has denounced Maricopa County, Arizona, assessor Paul Petersen’s adoption scheme as “sickening.”
Ronald Rasband, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said Petersen’s membership in the church does not exonerate his conduct nor excuse any wrongdoing.
Authorities say Petersen illegally transported pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to the U.S., fraudulently enrolled them for Medicaid and orchestrated adoptions of their children to American families for up to $40,000 each.
“We’re just as disgusted with it as anybody,” Rasband told The Arizona Republic in a recent interview. “The details of this case are sickening.”
The Quorum is the secondhighest governing body in the church, after the president, and helps set worldwide policy for its 17 million members.
Rasband’s comments mark the first time the church has taken a public position on the case, which is reverberating with political, cultural and legal implications.
He acknowledged the church will review Petersen’s membership.
Petersen is the elected Maricopa County, Arizona, assessor. He was indicted on human trafficking charges last month in Arizona, Utah and Arkansas related to his private adoption practice in Mesa, Arizona.
Neither Petersen nor his attorney would comment on Rasband’s remarks.
Petersen has pleaded not guilty to charges in Arizona and Arkansas and is scheduled to appear Friday in a Utah court.
Latter-day Saints officials acknowledged Petersen’s practice was rooted in his 1998 church mission to the Marshall Islands, where he said he learned the language and began facilitating adoptions.
Rasband said Petersen’s alleged conduct was not sanctioned by the church and said no overlap was found between Petersen’s adoption practice and the church’s Family Services arm.
“The fact that he’s a Latterday Saint does not exonerate him,” Rasband said.
He questioned whether Petersen’s religious ties would undergo rigorous scrutiny if he was not a church member.
Church Elder Paul Pieper said missionaries can develop strong ties with communities they serve. An unscrupulous person might take advantage of those ties, he said.
Text messages and interviews obtained by The Arizona Republic show Petersen frequently placed children with Latter-day Saints families.
Adoptive parents said Petersen was regarded as a family man and a trusted source for adoptions, particularly among the Latter-day Saint community in Arizona, Utah and Arkansas.
Family bonds are cornerstones of the Latter-day Saints faith, which until 2014 helped arrange adoptions through its own Family Services agency.
Church spokesman Doug Andersen said there is no indication the church ever referred families to Petersen, and he was never officially endorsed. Andersen said there was no indication Petersen marketed his business using his church ties.
“Some (church) adoption workers were advised by their clients that Petersen was facilitating adoptions,” Andersen said. “Family Services was not contacted by Petersen for endorsement, nor did Family Services refer to him. Clients reported their contact was through word of mouth from other couples.”
Family Services stopped offering adoptions because of an overwhelming demand.
“Family Services was no longer able to respond to the large number of Latter-day Saint couples desiring to adopt,” Andersen said. “This was due to the decrease of children available for adoption. A number of other licensed adoption agencies had also discontinued their adoption practices.”
Petersen did not appear to be hindered in his adoption efforts. Authorities said that since 2015, he brought at least 70 women from the Marshall Islands to give birth in the U.S. with the purpose of placing their kids up for adoption.
Citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, which is near the equator in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the Philippines, can travel to the U.S. freely under the Compact of Free Association between the two countries.
In 2003, the compact was amended to forbid women from traveling for adoption purposes after decades of exploitation of pregnant women.
A Republic investigation based on contracts, texts, emails and internal documents found Petersen treated birth mothers and their children like monetary transactions.
He moved multiple women in and out of homes he owned in Mesa and Utah, took cuts for living expenses out of money he promised birth mothers and made every effort to enroll them in Medicaid programs.
The Republic found Petersen was connected to at least three other adoption agencies in Arizona and Colorado.
Petersen was arrested Oct. 8 and remained in custody until Oct. 29, when he appeared before a federal judge in Arkansas and pleaded not guilty to multiple charges. He was released on $100,000 bond.
Petersen and co-defendant Maki Takehisa, a translator who worked with the Marshallese women, are charged in Arkansas with 19 counts that include smuggling, wire and mail fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, court records show.
In Arizona, Petersen and codefendant Lynwood Jennet face 32 counts involving Medicaid fraud. That includes allegations of fraudulent schemes, conspiracy, theft and forgery. Jennet served as Petersen’s liaison for the Marshallese women and lived with them in Mesa.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office alleges that Petersen fraudulently registered birth mothers living in Arizona for Medicaid so they could use the state’s low-cost health-care program. Contracts show Petersen attempted to use the Medicaid system in other states as well.
Marshallese citizens are not eligible for Medicaid unless they’ve lived in the U.S. for five years. But according to state investigators, Petersen and his associates lied about the residency status of birth mothers so they could illegally access the health-care benefits.
In Utah, Petersen is charged with 11 counts related to human smuggling.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted last month to suspend Petersen from his government job for 120 days for “neglect of duty.” Because he is elected, the board was barred from permanently removing him from office.
Petersen said last week that he will appeal his suspension.
“We’re just as disgusted with it as anybody. The details of this case are sickening.” Ronald Rasband a leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints