A Baby Adopted, and ICWA failed

 

A video leaks of a wealthy politician describing how he adopted a Native child, leading to outrage from the child’s biological family and members of her tribe. 

LISTEN:  https://revealnews.org/podcast/native-adoption-utah-politician-northern-cheyenne/

Corruption and Bribery? A Baby Adopted, A Family Divided

 

THIS WEEK’S PODCAST

A Baby Adopted, A Family Divided 

Reveal illustration; Charles Deluvio/Unsplash; Dukas/Universal/Getty

In 2017, David Leavitt drove to the Northern Cheyenne reservation in Montana to adopt a baby girl. A few years later, during an interview with a documentary filmmaker, Leavitt, a wealthy Utah politician, told a startling story about how he went about getting physical custody of that child. He describes going to the tribe’s president and offering to use his connections to broker an international sale of the tribe’s buffalo. At the same time, he was asking the president for his blessing to adopt the child. That video eventually leaked to a local TV station, and the adoption became the subject of a federal investigation into bribery. To others, the adoption story seemed to run afoul of a federal law meant to protect Native children from being removed from their tribes’ care in favor of non-Native families. This week on Reveal, reporters Andrew Becker and Bernice Yeung dig into the story of this complicated and controversial adoption, how it circumvented the mission of the Indian Child Welfare Act, and why some of the baby’s Native family and tribe were left feeling that a child was taken from them.

Listen to the episode

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Transcript

 

Dig Deeper

Read: ‘People Say, You Sold Your Baby’ (The Cut) 

Read: Forever Home (Mother Jones)

Listen: Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl (Radiolab)

Listen: This Land podcast

 

Video raises ethical questions about Leavitt's adoption of Native American child #ChildTrafficking #ICWA

BREAKING - I can confirm this video of Utah County Attorney David Leavitt, discussing his "strategy" to adopt a Native American infant, was submitted into evidence in 2020 as part of a Homeland Security human trafficking investigation.

My full investigation airs tonight. @FOX13 pic.twitter.com/wOhzO2HoVr

— Adam Herbets (@AdamHerbets) June 28, 2022

According to the video, David Leavitt says his "strategy" included boarding a plane to Montana to meet with the Northern Cheyenne Tribal President (unannounced) to discuss buffalo exports to Ukraine + eventually adoption.

"At that point, he was all ears." pic.twitter.com/0XQfjJKFYM

— Adam Herbets (@AdamHerbets) June 28, 2022

After the child's adoption, Tribal President Jace Killsback served time in prison for an unrelated case.

I spoke with him briefly on the phone. So far, he has chosen not to comment on the claims made by Leavitt. pic.twitter.com/SWnerCkwhT

— Adam Herbets (@AdamHerbets) June 28, 2022

The Indian Child Welfare Act, passed in 1978, was designed to protect Native American children from being removed from their families.

The child is Leavitt's foster-step-great niece. There is no blood relation, but ultimately it's up to the tribe to decide who is "family." pic.twitter.com/UREFw15fGm

— Adam Herbets (@AdamHerbets) June 28, 2022

 

FOX 13 Investigates dropped another bombshell involving a Homeland Security Investigation against Leavitt. Noel Engels, a former analyst with Homeland Security Investigations, told FOX 13 Investigates that his team had been investigating sexual allegations against Leavitt for several years. Engels said his team had received the video about Leavvit and added it to the case file investigation on Leavitt on suspicion of human trafficking. VIA

In 1992, the task force issued their report, Report of Utah State Task Force on Ritual Abuse, concluding that ritual abuse was occurring in Utah. The Jeffrey Epstein saga, as well as my work on The Finders cult, show that these types of organized sexual rings do exist. Whether or not there is an occult or ritualistic element is often harder to prove, and, perhaps, even a distraction from the very real abuse of children that is happening. - Author Derrick Broze