SENTENCED: ATTORNEY AND LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE OF ASOCIACIÓN PRIMAVERA
Case concerning illegal adoption of the child Angely Hernández

Guatemala, October 25, 2011. The Eighth Court of Criminal Sentencing sentenced the attorney Alma Beatriz Valle Flores to 21 years and 4 months in prison and Enriqueta Francisca Noriega Cano to 16 years in prison—the pair are charged with participating in the illegal adoption of the child Angely Liseth Hernández Rodríguez.

The Court deemed the evidence provided by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) and the complementary prosecutors to be sufficient to sentence the individuals on charges of human trafficking, use of forged documentation and criminal association.

Furthermore, the Court ordered the disqualification of Valle Flores from practicing as an attorney and notary public throughout the duration of the sentence and declared that the two women must pay GTQ 100,000.00 (approx. USD 25,000) in compensation for the damages suffered by the mother of the child, Loyda Elizabeth Rodríguez.

Furthermore, the Court ordered the investigation of Mario Fernando Peralta Castañeda (judge of the Court of Children and Adolescents of Escuintla), staff from the Attorney General of the Nation's Office (PGN), social workers and all persons who (as officials or individuals) were involved in the process as well as the witnesses Oswaldo López and Tania Moreira on the charge of perjury.

The child was taken on November 3, 2006 from the patio of her house, located in the municipality of San Miguel Petapa in the department of Guatemala City. At a later stage, through the Asociación Primavera, the so-called mother used false papers to hand the child over, under the name Karen Abigail López García, to an adoptive family from outside of Guatemala.

The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), the Fundación Sobrevivientes [Survivor's Foundation] and Loyda Elizabeth Rodríguez (mother of the child) participated in the proceedings as complementary complainants. An additional eight individuals are also involved.