Nun accused of kidnapping was a guardian ad litem

Nun accused of kidnapping was a guardian ad litem

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Jose Ochoa Avalos and Adai Lopez Vasquez left Mexico for sleepy central Florida town of Eustis, with few friends and speaking little English. The nun's kindness seemed a godsend as they transition to life in a new country. But once the baby was born, Sister Mary's helping hand turned into a controlling grip as she threatened to call immigration officials if they didn't let her keep baby Maria. She once offered them $2,000 for the girl, authorities said. Last fall, she took the baby anyway.
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By KELLI KENNEDY
Associated Press Writer
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A nun charged with taking a 2-year-old girl from her parents and fleeing to another country was also a guardian ad litem for the state, officials said Thursday.

Sister Mary, or Laura Caballero, has been a guardian ad litem since 2002, working with 19 cases, said Marcia Hilty, a spokeswoman for the Florida statewide guardian ad litem office. Guardian ad litems are appointed by the court to neutrally represent a child's interests.

She could not confirm whether Caballero was a guardian for Maria Lopez Vazquez, the child she is accused of taking.

Hilty says Caballero was in good standing and completed all requirements for the program, including a criminal background check, interview, references and 30 hours of training. Caballero was removed from the program after her arrest at a Miami airport in January.

"We are shocked and saddened by the events," Hilty told The Associated Press.

Caballero was charged with false imprisonment after taking the baby last year from her parents and fleeing to Argentina with a handyman from the church. The family was reunited in Orlando on Tuesday, six months after the girl was taken.

Authorities said Sister Mary was controlling and threatened to turn her parents into immigration officials if they did not give her the child. Her parents are illegal immigrants. At one point, detectives said she offered the parents $2,000 for the girl.

Caballero said she is a nun at St. Filumena in central Florida. It is not a Roman Catholic church affiliated with the Orlando Diocese or the Vatican, nor are its clergy and nuns.

No one answered the phone at Caballero's on Thursday.

The Department of Children and Families investigated the family last May after receiving a call that the child might be in danger, but the case was closed with no findings of abuse. The family later moved to South Carolina, yet Sister Mary continued to contact the child investigator, insisting that Maria was "her child" and her parents didn't take care of her, according to an arrest report.

Sister Mary told the investigator she hired a private eye to find the family and later informed the investigator she had Maria and that her parents had given her custody, according to the arrest report.

It's unclear why the case wasn't investigated until the family called the police months later.

DCF says the agency was not informed of any change in custody. They closed the case finding the girl was safe with her parents.

"The next official communication that we received regarding this child was a call to help the parents this week," DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said.


http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1463555.html