KERA | By Toluwani Osibamowo,
Paul DeBenedetto
PublishedAugust 1, 2024 at 12:10 PM CDT
UpdatedAugust 5, 2024 at 2:31 PM CDT
An attorney and executive director of a North Texas adoption agency was arrested last week on felony charges for allegedly trying to buy the babies of pregnant people in Tarrant County detention, according to the sheriff and jail records.
Jody Hall, 68, was booked into Hays County Jail July 23 on two counts of sale or purchase of a child, a third degree felony. Hall is an attorney and owns Adoptions International, a nonprofit founded in 1996 and currently based in Richardson, according to public filings.
The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office began its investigation into Hall in late May “concerning unethical adoption practices,” according to a release from the sheriff’s office. She was arrested for allegedly recruiting and paying pregnant people in Tarrant County custody to put their children up for adoption through her agency, according to the sheriff's office.
Detectives with the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office and Texas Rangers served two arrest warrants at Hall's home in Kyle, where she was arrested, the sheriff's office said. Hall was released from jail on bond the same day. No attorney is currently listed for Hall in jail records.
According to arrest warrant affidavits obtained by KERA News, Hall began a text conversation with a pregnant detainee on a jail-issued tablet in March. The conversations showed Hall had spoken to a family who was interested in adopting the woman’s child and wanted the father of the child to relinquish his parental rights, the affidavit said.
“Have you heard from your boyfriend?” a text from Hall to the woman reads. “I need to get him to sign a document stating that he may or may not be the father but if he is, he is relinquishing his rights and does not want to have to go to Court. Please let me know how to get in touch with him now.”
An investigator analyzed jail money transactions that showed the woman received $846 from Hall, according to the affidavit. Hall stopped paying the woman in May when the detainee decided not to put her child up for adoption, and Hall sent her another message:
“[Y]ou’re in jail and a drug addict,” the text reads. “YOU! Did NOT keep him. You are a scammer and I will be telling the prosecutor in your case all about how this family supported you since November and you scammed them WITH THE HELP OF YOUR BOYFRIEND. He’s got pictures all over [Facebook] of him holding the baby. You are such a liar !!!”
In a separate case, Hall told a pregnant detainee she could have an open adoption, meaning the woman would get pictures of her child and keep up with their growth, according to a text message in the affidavit. The woman could pick a family and start communicating with them, and in turn, Hall would give the woman $100 weekly.
The woman received a total of $250 from Harris, the investigator found. In June, Hall told her there was a white family with a Black adopted son ready to adopt another baby.
“AND, you will have $2500 when you get out, or if you want me to put some on your books each week, I can do that,” Hall’s message read.
The woman “claims to have had a child” in a subsequent text to Hall, the affidavit states. Hall tells the woman to let doctors know she is giving the baby up for adoption so that Hall can get Child Protective Services to close their case with her.
People can put money in two types of accounts for an inmate to use, according to the affidavit. One account is on the jail-issued tablet that an inmate can use to communicate, watch movies or use the Internet. The second is a commissary account for buying food and hygiene products.
Hall deposited money in both these accounts for both women, the investigator found. None of those transactions are exceptions outlined in Texas Penal Code to the offense of selling or purchasing a child — such as a necessary pregnancy-related expense for the benefit of the child’s parent — so the payments were illegal, the affidavit states.
Hall was previously linked to an illegal adoption scheme throughreporting from Civil Beat in Honolulu. According to the outlet's 2019 investigation, Hall was among several lawyers who helped broker black-market adoptions from the Marshall Islands via an illegal pipeline through Hawaii.
Emails obtained by the outlet detailed communications between Hall and a prospective adoptive mother. According to Civil Beat, the client expressed reservations about the process — including whether it was legal. The Compacts of Free Association — a treaty between the U.S. government and freely associated states including the Republic of the Marshall Islands — as well as Marshall Islands law restricts some adoptions.
Months after that investigation, Adoptions International lost accreditation and was forced to cease international adoptions by the Intercountry Adoption Accreditation and Maintenance Entity, Civil Beat first reported. The U.S. State Department said at the time Adoptions International failed to comply with standards.
Another person implicated in the Marshallese adoption scandal, Arkansas attorney Justin Aine, was arrested and charged with child trafficking by the Republic of the Marshall Islands that same year.
The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office and Texas Department of Public Safety did not respond to requests for comment. Hall could not be reached for comment.
This story has been updated to include details from the arrest warrant affidavits for Hall issued by the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office.
Got a tip? Email Toluwani Osibamowo attosibamowo@kera.org. You can follow Toluwani on X@tosibamowo.
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