Family Forum / Parenting / Adoption / March 2005

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Wetumpka mother, daughter get prison sentences in adoption scam

The Associated Press

March 29, 2005

A Wetumpka woman who pleaded guilty to using her infant twins as bait
in a nationwide adoption scam and her mother received five-year prison
sentences and a harsh rebuke from the judge.

Elmore County Circuit Judge John Bush gave 33-year consecutive prison
sentences to Cherish Tarbox, 21, and her mother, Jenny Lodge, 42, on
Monday. They are to serve five years and three months of that sentence
after pleading guilty to three counts each of theft by deception for
offering Tarbox's unborn twin boys as bait in the scam.

Police reports said Tarbox and Lodge scammed five prospective adoptive
couples by offering to allow them to adopt Tarbox's twin boys if they
paid for medical and other expenses. The scam continued after the
babies were born. Officials believe more than $17,000 was taken during
the scheme.

"How were y'all planning on getting away with this?" a visibly angry
Bush asked Lodge. "How were y'all keeping everything straight, the
lying, the stealing, the ripping people's hearts out by offering them
these children?

"I'm trying to understand the criminal mind here."

The judge saved his strongest rebuke for Tarbox, who has two other
children.

"Ms. Tarbox, you are taking advantage of the blessings God gave you to
have children," Bush said. "You preyed on people who, for whatever
reason, God did not bless with children. The only option they had was
adoption. Whatever this court sentences you to, it's nothing compared
to what you will face one day."

District Attorney Randall Houston said the split sentences meant the
women wouldn't be eligible for parole. He praised Bush's "very stiff
sentence."

"Most people would see this as a money crime. Judge Bush saw it for
what it is, the emotional torture of these prospective parents,"
Houston said.

Jennifer Jones of Birmingham stood with prosecutors during Tarbox's
sentencing. She and her husband gave the women money early in the scam
but backed out "when we saw red flags."

"This type of thing goes on all the time," Jones said. "There are no
checks and balances in adoption. A birth mother can register with as
many agencies and facilitators as she wishes. All she has to do is back
out of an adoption and it's over."