Stolen babies scandal haunts Spain
By Maganga Media - Apr 26, 2012
Sister Maria Gomez at a Madrid court hearing in April. She is the only person so far charged in the illegal adoption scandal that has gripped Spain. Sister Maria Gomez is an 87-year-old Catholic nun. This month, she appeared in a Spanish court escorted by police. She is accused of snatching an infant from her birth mother and putting the child up for an illegal adoption in 1982. Sister Maria Gomez flatly refused to testify and was jeered as she stepped outside the court. The elderly nun wearing a gray habit has become the face of what is known in Spain as Ninos Robados or Stolen Children.
Thousands of newborn babies -- according to groups working with the now-adult adoptees -- were taken from their mothers, straight out of hospitals, and sold to families desperate for children. At least 2,000 official cases have been filed with Spanish prosecutors, but some believe there could be tens of thousands more, dating as far back as the 1950s and continuing as recently as the 1990s.
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| Behind Spain's adoption scandal |
So far, it seems the cases, from all across Spain, were individuals making money from misery rather than a nationally coordinated network or organized crime gangs. But of all these cases, only one person has been named as a suspect, Sister Maria Gomez.
One day after her appearance in court, she issued a statement denying the allegations saying they were deeply disgusting and that she has never known a single case of a newborn being taken from a mother through coercion or threats.
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ANDIKA MAONI YAKO KUHUSU HABARI HII
