Two detectives investigating an alleged Florida-to-New York black market in babies were thrown for a loss at 1 P.M. yesterday when Mrs. Bess Bernard, 44, tossed a smart lateral pass to her spry old pappy and he broke through to a get-away with her little black book.
Mrs. Bess Bernard, of 825 West End Ave., had been fingered by a Miami newspaper as the "principal assistant" to Irwin Slater, a 37-year-old Manhattan lawyer arrested Thursday night as head of the ring.
But with only her empty handbag and assorted scratches and bruises to show for their trip to her apartment, the two sleuths could charge her only with felonious assault, attempting to prevent service of a warrent and preventing an officer from performing his duty.
Admits Officers to Home
The daunted detectives were James Cashman and William Boehm, of the District Attorney's Office. They reported that Mrs. Bernard readily admitted them when they called at the apartment, armed with a search warrent signed by Magistrate Vernon Riddick. Also present were her daughter, Caryl, 17, and her father, a vigorous man in his 60s who was identified only as a Mr. Weiner.
All went smoothly enough until Boehm started searching Mrs. Bernard's handbag and pulled out a notebook containing a lot of addresses and phone numbers. Before he could read any of the names, he said, Mrs. Bernard pounced upon him, scratching and kicking, wrested the book away and threw it to Weiner.
Weiner bolted for the door. Cashman dashed after him, but, with his head start, the older man was able to outrun the officer. Weiner darted down the back stairss and out of the building. When Cashman reached the street, Weiner was nowhere to be seen. A hurry call brought a radio car from the 100th St. station, but a search of the neighborhood proved fruitless.
Matron Held at Station
The daughter took no part in these athletic activities. Mrs. Bernard was booked at W. 100th St. and then removed to the women's lockup at the W. 30th St. station.
Lawyer Slater, who lives at 13 70th St., Brooklyn, and has offices at 67 W. 44th St., Manhattan, was held in $1,000 bail Friday in Mid-Manhattan Court for a hearing Nov. 4 on a charge of violating the state social welfare law.
The specific complaint involved the asserted "sale" of a baby for adoption for $2,000.
The importation of 25 to 30 babies from Miami -- described by a prosecutor as "a mecca for unwed mothers from all parts of the country" -- was disclosed here yesterday in criminal proceedings against an asserted baby-peddling ring which charges as much as $2,000 per child. Named in the six-count grand jury information were two lawyers and a 44-year-old housewife.
It was the first such accusation made since enactment of the law making it an additional crime to help an unauthorized agency to make a profit by placing babies, District Attorney Hogan said.
Charged with conspiracy and illegal placement for adoption were Irwin Slater, 38, of 13 70th St., Brooklyn, with offices at 67 W. 44th St,; Harry wolfson, 37, his assistant of 260 Ocean Parkway, also Brooklyn, and Mrs. Bess Bernard, 44, of 825 West End Ave.
On Assembly-Line Basis
The operations, according to Assistant DA Ernest Mittler, were "a big-time business done on assembly-line basis," with Slater "in charge of production," Wolfson as "his office manager" and Mrs. Bernard "in charge of placement and transportation of the babies."
In Miami, Mittler explained, the unwed mothers "could easily lose themselves." The babies that were brought north, he said, were "sold" here and in nearby states.
Slater assertedly drafted formal agreements "just like a bill of sale for a piece of property" and inserted a clause that the payments were for all fees and adoption services. However, Mittler said, he knows of no case where Slater and the others actually brought an adoption proceeding for foster parents.
In Special Sessions, Slater and Mrs. Bernard were held in $1,000 bail each and the same amount was fixed for Wolfson. A trial date will be set Dec. 12.
Slater had previously been held on a Magistrate's Court charge of placing babies illegally, which was dismissed in view of the information. Mrs. Bernard also had been under bail, charged with assault on a policeman and interfering with the process of justice.
Two DA's detectives complained that while going through Mrs. Bernard's apartment, armed with a search warrant, she wrested a notebook from one of them, scratching and kicking, and tossed it to her father, whereupon the old man outran the second detective and escaped with it.
In a statement after arraignment, Slater asserted he had acted merely as an intermediary and said 85% of adoption cases were privately handled in this manner. Wolfson said he was a friend of Slater, but neither a partner nor associate, and had not participated in his business activities in any way.
A Brooklyn clothing firm executive testified in General Sessions yesterday that Mrs. Bess Bernard, 44, on trial with two lawyer co-defendants on charges of baby-selling, offered him his pick of two infants and put a price of $2,000 on the one he chose.
As in the case of the other witnesses who have been appearing before Judge Francis L. Valente and the jury, the clothing man's name was withheld. He said that at Mrs. Bernard's request he brought the money in cash to her office, and that when he found she was not in he left the packet on her desk.
Got No Certificate
Since that time, he continued, Mrs. Bernard had called him several times to ask about the youngster's physical condition but she never produced the birth certificate and adoption papers he had asked for.
Mrs. Bernard, who lives at 925 West End Ave., is on trial with Irwin Slater, 38, of 13 70th St., Brooklyn, and his law associate, Harry Wolfson, 37, of 260 Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, in the first Manhattan prosecution under the new state law governing placement of babies for adoption. The lawyers have offices at 67 W. 44th St., Manhattan.
Heard Young Voices
The clothing man said he and his wife got in touch with Mrs. Bernard through friends and that she had taken them first to an apartment on W. 190th St., where they first saw the baby they ultimately obtained. Then she allowed them to look at another baby in New Jersey, he added (unable to read to end of sentence)
Under cross examination by Mrs. ... continued....
... continued...
Bernard's attorney, John McKim Minton, the witness said there was a woman in the W. 190th St. apartment but he did not know whether she was the baby's mother. He also said he heard other children's voices in other rooms of the flat.
Four witnesses last week told of giving their own babies to Slater for adoption for $300 or less --one, a 17-year-old unwed mother, said she got $100. The foster parents who have testified so far declared they paid from $1,650 to $2,000.
Told of Paying $1,800
A New York corporation executive declared on the stand yesterday that he and his wife, childless after nine years of marriage and unable to get a baby through a legitimate agency, paid Slater $1,800 for one. He said he and Slater flew to Miami, where the baby was turned over to him in a doctor's office.
Two New Jersey women who operate nursing homes testified that they had cared for babies for the defendants. One said she had taken care of three for Mrs. Bernard -- one of whom she went to Florida to get. Mrs. Bernard, she said, followed her south on the next plane and they went together to a nursing home in Miami Beach and picked up an infant that Mrs. Bernard delicately referred to as her "niece."
The witness added that she then flew home with the baby and a few days later a man and woman called for it.
After being denounced for "buying and selling babies for profit," Irwin Slater, Brooklyn attorney, and Mrs. Bess Bernard, 44-year-old widow, each were sentenced to a year in jail today and assessed heavy fines.
General Sessions Judge Valente told Mrs. Bernard, who lived at 925 West End Ave., that he would suspend her prison term if she paid her $2,500 fine. Slater, 33, who lived at 13 70th St., Brooklyn, was fined $1,500.
The two were accused of "illegal placement of babies and accepting compensation for such placement," acts which Valente characterized as "a nauseating and revolting practise of trading in human flesh."
"There is no doubt that you were buying and selling babies for profit," said Valente. "Humanitarian motives, if any, were a secondary consideration. A substantial gain on each deal was the primary motive."
"The State has laws to protect children and it is particularly concerned with the care of its destitute and unwanted children."
Harry Wolfson, 37, an attorney who shared an office with Slater, was acquitted by the same jury that convicted Slater and Mrs. Bernard.
There were many others who patricipated in the black and gray market adoption rings. Scores of others brokered babies for a fine profit. I will add to this page as I continue to research.
Back To The Adoption Experience Homepage.
Some maternity homes operated above board while other were no more than baby brokers.
Over-crowding in orphanages in the east lead to the transport of hundreds of children to the midwest. Few of these children ever saw their parents again.
You can read about these trains and the agencies who provided the young travelers who rode them, carrying few belongings and not knowing where they would end up.
Registration Day (Reg Day) happens once each year; it's purpose is to encourage and support. Any birth family member or adoptee can register at ISRR.net for free.
There are many search angels. Some work entirely for free, some work on a no find-no fee basis and others charge very reasonable rates. This page coming soon.
Search and support groups exist all over the internet. Many such groups work certain state and others work nationwide. Some groups are more active than others. In this section, I'll provide links so you can join the groups which are best suited to your individual search; there is no fee.
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