CHICAGO — In a significant legal development decades in the making, a Chilean judge has formally moved to prosecute five individuals linked to a horrifying child abduction and illegal adoption scheme that took place under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
Between the 1970s and 1990s, thousands of children were reportedly taken from low-income mothers in Chile and sent for adoption overseas — often without consent, including to families in the United States. This week’s charges are the first formal criminal prosecutions related to the scandal.
The Accused: Five Face Charges for Abduction and Illicit Association
Judge Aguilar Brevis issued orders for the arrest and detention of:
-
Ivonne Gutiérrez Pávez (extradition requested from Israel)
-
Ismael Moisés Espinoza León
-
Carlos Sigisfredo Vega Segura
-
Laura Rosa Silva Sánchez
-
Sylvia Clara Vilches Rojas
The five face charges of child abduction, illicit association, and prevarication related to two confirmed illegal adoptions in the city of San Fernando, Chile during the 1980s.
How the Scheme Worked
An investigation by Chilean officials uncovered a network involving lawyers, judges, Catholic priests, social workers, and health officials. Their aim: to remove newborns from vulnerable mothers — often by claiming the infants had died in childbirth — and place them in international adoptions for sums that sometimes reached $50,000 per child.
One Adoptee’s Story: Houston Firefighter Discovers Truth Decades Later
The scandal gained renewed attention in recent years thanks to the work of Tyler Graf, a Houston firefighter who learned he was one of the stolen babies.
Born prematurely in 1983, Graf’s Chilean mother was told her son had died. In reality, he had been placed for adoption and raised by a U.S. family who had no idea of the deception.
Graf later used DNA testing and Chile’s unique “root number” ID system to trace his origins and eventually reunite with his biological mother.
Connecting Roots: A Mission to Reunite Families
In 2023, Tyler Graf founded Connecting Roots, a nonprofit organization helping other adoptees trace their Chilean families.
“These adopted mothers are also victims — they were lied to just like we were,” Graf said in a 2022 interview with ABC13.
“We never died. We never left Chile. We just vanished in the records — but the truth was always there.”
Thanks to Graf’s work, dozens of Chileans have been reunited with their biological families after decades of separation.
An International Wake-Up Call
While the recent indictments apply only to two confirmed cases, Chilean officials estimate thousands of children were trafficked this way over two decades. Many U.S. families may have unknowingly adopted these children, raising complex questions about documentation, ethics, and emotional closure.
The Chilean government has pledged to cooperate with international authorities in seeking justice, including requesting extradition of those no longer in the country.
Were you or someone you know affected by Chile’s illegal adoption crisis?
Share your story or thoughts in the comments on ChicagoSuburbanFamily.com — or explore resources to reconnect with Chilean family through organizations like Connecting Roots.
