Nun Charged over 40 Year Baby Kidnapping Scandal

Herald Sun
March 17, 2012

www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/nun-charged-over-baby-kidnapping-scandal-spanning-40-years/story-e6frf7lf-1226302469433

A NUN in Spain has become the first person to be charged with abducting a baby as part of a larger investigation into the kidnapping and worldwide sale of children by priests and nuns over a 40-year period.

Sister Maria Gomez Valbuena, 80, has been linked to some 3000 claims of kidnapping by families who say the Madrid nun stole their children for resale to childless couples, The (London) Times reported Saturday.

According to Spanish daily El Pais, the abductions mostly took place at San Ramon and Santa Cristina hospitals in Madrid from the 1950s to the early 1980s.

Maria Luisa Torres was one of countless people who took up Valbuena's offer to help single mothers who were in dire straits, agreeing to temporarily place her baby in a child care facility that she could visit, the Times said.

However, after she gave birth to her daughter, Pilar, in Santa Cristina Hospital in 1982, Valbuena told her that the child had died. The nun later changed her story and said Pilar had been given up for adoption, Torres told prosecutors.

Torres said Valbuena had collected payment from the adoptive parents apparently on her behalf, but she never saw a cent of the money.

Torres - who contacted police 10 years ago after watching a TV show about adopted children looking for their birth parents - was reunited with Pilar last year following an investigation by a journalist.

"Sister María has robbed us of the best times. I have lost her first 30 years and you can't get this back," Torres said.

The case is just one of thousands involving nuns, priests, doctors and undertakers who sold children to couples in Spain, the US and Britain among other countries.

The scandal has gained nationwide attention, with Spain's Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon vowing to make resolving the crisis a top priority.

Valbuena, who appeared in court last month but was uncooperative, will appear before a judge again in April when she is expected to enter a plea.