Haiti frees U.S. aid worker accused of kidnapping
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - An American aid worker has been released from a prison in Haiti more than two weeks after being jailed on allegations he kidnapped a 15-month-old boy from a hospital, a Haitian prosecutor said on Thursday.The boy's father had accused Paul Waggoner of stealing the baby boy, who was admitted to a hospital where Waggoner was a worker.
The court was shown evidence the baby had died in hospital.Waggoner, who co-founded the aid group Materials Management Relief Corps after the quake, was freed on Wednesday when a judge granted a request from his lawyer, Enock-Gene Genelus, the prosecutor in the case, told Reuters.Genelus said the judge had not issued a final ruling.
However, Waggoner's release suggested he will likely be cleared of the charges.
A judge opened an investigation to determine whether the baby had been kidnapped or died at a hospital in the aftermath of Haiti's devastating January 12 earthquake, which killed more than 250,000 people and prompted one of the world's biggest international relief operations.
Tens of thousands of aid workers are in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest state where some 1.3 million earthquake survivors remain homeless and a cholera epidemic has killed more than 2,700 since mid-October.
In a statement posted on its website, the group said it presented an affidavit from a doctor who had treated the child that stated the boy died at a community hospital in February and the father had been shown the body.
"We are so glad this is finally over," said Paul Sebring, the aid group's other co-founder.
Waggoner suggested he might be ending his personal involvement in aid efforts on the ground in Haiti but urged relief workers to continue.
"I could have continued working in Haiti and would've been happy," he said.
"I love Haiti and fear this incident will stop many aid workers from coming to help."
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