Widow sues orphanage exec for kidnapping

MANILA, Philippines — A widow filed charges against an official of the Gentle Hands Inc. (GHI) orphanage before the Quezon City prosecutor’s office yesterday for refusing to release her children.

In an eight-page complaint, Karizza Joyce Torcatos charged GHI director Charity Heppner-Graff with two counts of kidnapping and failure to return a minor in connection with Article 270 of the Revised Penal Code.

Torcatos said her children, ages five and three, were taken from her house on Jan. 11 after a woman to whom she refused to lend money “falsely claimed I have been neglecting my children.”

She said that despite providing the necessary documents, GHI refused to release her children until Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian ordered the orphanage’s closure in May and the children returned to their parents or taken in by other facilities.