Jim Allen, one of the eight American volunteers freed from jail in Haiti, said he believed the team had all the paperwork necessary to take Haitian children to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic.

“We were told that all the documents required to get kids into the Dominican Republic she (team leader Laura Silsby) had,” said Allen to Anderson Cooper on CNN’s “AC360” Friday evening. “And on the Haitian side there were some documents that we needed to acquire and that was part of our goal also.”

When asked if he had seen the documents, Allen said he did see them when the children were being loaded onto the bus. The documents, said the American volunteer, were filled out as each child boarded the vehicle. more >>

Jim Allen, one of the eight American volunteers who were freed this week by a Haitian judge, will clear up a lot of false information when he starts to speak to the media, said one of his legal counsels Friday.

Allen is scheduled to speak to Oprah and CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Friday, and more media outlets next week.

“There have been a lot of false things that have been out in the media about what happened. Jim can certainly talk about what really happened and get the true facts out,” said Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel at Liberty Legal Institute, which represented Allen, to The Christian Post. more >>

Eight of the ten American volunteers detained in Haiti for the past three weeks on suspicion of child abduction were finally released and arrived in Miami early Thursday morning.

The Baptist volunteers, mostly from two Idaho churches, arrived at Miami International Airport on a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane shortly after midnight. After they cleared U.S. Customs, at about 1:25 a.m., seven of the group members went into an elevator at Miami International Airport Hotel, according to The Miami Herald.

None of the volunteers spoke to reporters at the airport about their ordeal in Haiti. more >>

A Haitian judge on Wednesday freed eight American volunteers, who attempted to take children out of the country, and said they can leave the country immediately. Two, however, remain in jail.

The Americans were freed on bail but they will not be required to post bond to leave, a lawyer involved in the case told CNN. Authorities will continue to investigate the case after the church volunteers return to the United States.

In late January, a group of ten American Christians were arrested while trying to transport a bus with 33 Haitian children to the Dominican Republic. The group says it was taking the children to an orphanage in the neighboring country where the children would be cared for and educated. Members said they were motivated by love and concern for the children after a massive earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince. more >>

The Dominican legal adviser to the ten American Baptist volunteers facing charges of child kidnapping in Haiti is himself wanted in El Salvador on charges of human trafficking and in the United States for human smuggling.

Jorge Torres Puello, who was hired by the families of the Americans for legal advice, is accused of operating an international sex trafficking ring using women and girls from the Caribbean and Central America. He allegedly lured girls by promising modeling contracts but instead made them work as prostitutes.

An international arrest warrant was issued Saturday for Puello on sex-trafficking charges. more >>

Some of the American Baptist volunteers faced with charges of child kidnapping may be freed as early as Thursday, sources say.

The Haitian judge overseeing the case is expected to rule mid-afternoon on whether to release the ten Americans who attempted to transport 33 Haitian children to the Dominican Republic without permission.

Though the judge’s ruling cannot be confirmed, Reuters and CNN sources familiar with the case have said the judge might release two volunteers Thursday and six more next week. The last two members would remain in jail, according to the account. more >>