CICIG AND MP REQUEST MAXIMUM PENALTIES IN ILLEGAL ADOPTION CASE

Guatemala, October 17, 2011. At the closing arguments in the case of the illegal adoption of the child Angely Liseth Hernández Rodríguez, the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) requested that the Eighth Court of Criminal Sentencing sentence the lawyer Alma Beatriz Valle Flores and Enriqueta Francisca Noriega Cano to 26 years in prison. The pair are charged with participating in the illegal adoption process.

The Commission requested that the two accused parties receive the following maximum prison sentences:

• 12 years for human trafficking;
• 6 years for use of forged documentation;
• 8 years for criminal association.

In addition, CICIG requested that Valle Flores be banned from exercising as a lawyer and notary public.

On Friday, October 14, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) requested the same prison sentences and charges for the accused pair as well as the payment of GTQ 150,000.00 for the civil damages suffered by the girl, who was adopted under the name Karen Abigail López García.

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 to an adoptive family from outside of Guatemala.

CICIG acted as a complementary prosecutor in this criminal proceeding. An additional eight individuals are also involved in the case.

Sent to trial
Today, at a different hearing in the same case, the Fourth Court of the First Criminal Instance ruled to send Susana María de la Asunción Luarca Saracho to trial. Luarca Saracho is accused of being involved in the illegal adoption of the minor.

Luarca Saracho will face justice for human trafficking, the use of forged documentation and criminal association. She is accused of leading a network involved in processing illegal adoptions.