Allegations that a politician in metro Phoenix ran an international adoption scheme in three states ranks as the top news story of 2019 in Arizona, according to the Associated Press.
Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen was accused in October of making illegal payments to women to come to the United States to give up their babies in at least 70 adoption cases.
He’s also an adoption attorney.
Petersen has pleaded not guilty in Arizona and Arkansas and hasn’t yet entered a plea in Utah.
His attorneys say Petersen ran a legal adoption practice and has been vilified.
