Both sides say money was offered for girl, 5
By Shirley Downing
Commercial Appeal
February 25, 2004

The birth and custodial mothers of a 5-year-old Chinese girl at the center of a bitter adoption dispute said Tuesday that money offers had been suggested for the girl.

Birth mother Qin Luo 'Casey' He claimed the custodial father had offered $3,000 for her daughter, Anna Mae He, now 5.

Custodial mother Louise Baker said the girl's birth father had indicated he might trade the child to a lawyer in exchange for help in an unrelated legal case.

Neither father has testified in the trial that began Monday in Circuit Court.

The bench trial is before Judge Robert 'Butch' Childers, who will determine if the Hes lose parental rights, thus clearing the way for adoption by the Bakers.

Casey He and Shaoqiang 'Jack' He, both Chinese nationals, have waged a four-year battle for the return of their daughter.

Casey He testified Tuesday that her daughter was taken by a deceitful Christian couple who were aided by "a bad judge and a greedy lawyer."

The Hes' attorneys, David Siegel and Richard Gordon, said evidence suggests the Hes were duped from the beginning by a couple who never intended to return the girl placed temporarily and voluntarily in their care.

Louise Baker testified, "We all had an agreement that we would raise her for the rest of her life."

While Casey He cried as paperwork was signed awarding the Bakers custody, Baker said He never expressed a desire to keep Anna Mae.

During visits with the child later, Baker said Casey He became emotional and disruptive as she held the girl.

Parrish introduced as evidence a Mother's Day card the Hes sent Baker which referred to her as the child's "real Mom."

The case has attracted international attention, with representatives of the Chinese Embassy and the local Chinese community observing testimony.

The embassy and a California lawyer last fall filed a complaint with the Tennessee Supreme Court about Chancellor D. J. Alissandratos, who has since recused himself from the case.

The Hes said they gave Jerry Baker and his wife Louise custody of Anna Mae in 1999 until the Hes recovered from financial and legal problems. Jack He, then a graduate student at the University of Memphis, had been charged with sexual assault.

Mrs. He, who speaks little English, said she was told she could have her daughter back.

Louise Baker testified Tuesday that Jack He was willing to put Anna Mae up for adoption, but said his wife would not consent.

Baker testified later that although she and her husband sought temporary custody, they and the Hes came to a verbal agreement among themselves that the Bakers would raise the child "for the rest of her life."

A year into the temporary custody agreement, the Hes began asking for Anna Mae's return.

Jack He was acquitted last year on the criminal charge but the custody case - by then moved to Alissandratos's court for termination of parental rights and adoption - had stalled.

Baker attorney Larry Parrish said the Hes legally abandoned Anna Mae when they failed to visit for five months in the spring of 2001. But the Hes contend they were told to stay away from the Baker home by police called by Louise Baker after a dispute.

The Hes have campaigned to get Anna Mae back. Casey He has picketed the Bakers and their attorney.

In court Tuesday, she told a Chinese story that she said closely resembles her own.

The Solomon-like fable tells of two women who both claimed to be the mother of an infant, but the judge could not decide. He told the women to share the infant; both tugged until the baby cried. The real mother stopped pulling because she didn't want to harm her infant. That is how the judge identified the real mother.

Before Casey He was finished, she, her interpreter and some observers in the courtroom were sobbing.