[Mindful]

Children adopted from Ethiopia molested
June 17, 2008

It is a harrowing tale involving the case of two Ethiopian children adopted by a French family who have become victims of paedophile.

VOA reported last night that a four-year-old boy and an eighteen-month toddler were sexually molested by their adoptive father in St. Etienne, France.

The two had been sodomized until the fourth-year-old child’s chance visit to a hospital brought the case to light. The man who was allegedly committed the crime is now in custody.

Dawit Daniel, an Ethiopian living in France, told VOA’s Amharic Service that the revelation came when the 37 year-old unnamed adoptive father took the child to hospital to get him a treatment for wound on a leg caused by a beating but had to bring him again a week later when it only got worse. This has got the doctors suspicious, which led them to examine the child and alerted the police when they got confirmation.The suspect was arrested on the hospital gound. The eighteen-month toddler was brought to hospital by his adoptive mother and was found abused with a far more harm.

The children are now being taken care of in hospital. A special children’s court has decided they would be moved to foster homes when they are discharged from hospital where they could stay for six months. Then there is a possibility of reuniting them with their biological parents in Ethiopia or might be offered for adoption to another family in France.

Embet Gebreab, a Lyon resident Ethiopian, who runs an NGO Mama Ethiopia, told VOA she is pursuing the case on behalf of the children and has opened a file against the suspect. A court hearing was held two days ago where a representative from the Ethiopian Embassy in Paris also attended.

The court has given responsibility for an adoption service to see if the parents were capable of adopting.

The children were taken to France a month ago by an Addis-based adoption agency called Tukul.

[amyfk]

How terrible! I hope this moves France to do better background checks and homestudies on prospective
French adoptive parents. Such terrible acts should never be inflicted on innocent children!
Amy K, NJ