Per federal court records, in March of 1998, Patrick Atkinson, acting as program executive director, suspended James and Roberta McLaughlin from the Asociacion Nuestros Ahijados (God's Child Project) charity in Guatemala for theft of financial documents. Rather than return these financial documents and accept this suspension, Roberta McLaughlin left the charity saying that she and her husband were going 'to destroy the (charity) by destroying Patrick Atkinson's reputation', per assistant director Jannette Reye's sworn affidavit.
As a result of subsequent actions taken by James and Roberta McLaughlin's over the next several months, federal criminal charges were filed against the McLaughlins and two Guatemalans that they employed. Together and among others, these criminal charges against James and Roberta McLaughlin and their two employees include felony slander, impersonation of government officials, and interference in interstate commerce.
The McLaughlin's two employees were convicted of criminal misconduct. James and Roberta McLaughlin moved first to South America and later Cambodia. They did not respond to their subpoena and did not appear in federal court to respond to the criminal charges that had filed against them.
Patrick Atkinson and the God's Child Project later filed a civil lawsuit against James and Roberta McLaughlin for damages, including slander, defamation and interference in interstate commerce. Patrick Atkinson and the God's Child Project were successful in this lawsuit; James and Roberta McLaughlin testified that they had acted out of anger and a desire for revenge, and that they had no evidence whatsoever to support their actions against Patrick Atkinson and the God's Child Project.
After paying expenses, Patrick Atkinson donated the money he received from the McLaughlins to Special Olympics, the God's Child Project, and Outward Bound.
This website (www.GuatemalanChildren.org) formerly belonged to James and Roberta McLaughlin. They admit it had been used by them to post false, slanderous and misleading material against Patrick Atkinson and the God's Child Project. This web-site was surrrended by the McLaughlins as part of their settlement in the lawsuit, and all of the content contained herein was removed as part of their settlement. By mutual agreement, this legal settlement announcement has been posted instead.