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Among my numerous hats in life is one called Notary Public. When you sign a statement swearing you know when and where this woman's children were born, you are making a sworn statement. If you DON'T have actual first hand knowledge of this, do NOT sign any such statement and have it notarized.
If you do this, you are at risk of being charged with perjury if this ends badly. Definitely let the authorities, law enforcement, social services, cult deprogrammers, etc. handle this matter. If her story is true, they will know how to proceed. (I suspect it's not.) I especially liked the idea of a lawsuit for child support. That will get the ball rolling quickly.
In short, don't do this and stay as far from it as possible.
No she wasn't born in a hospital. Apparently there was someone in the group with medical knowledge that attended births and other medical emergencies. Any contact with the outside was strictly forbidden, apparently.
My understanding is that she has been in touch with many different agencies since returning to civilization and she hasn't received much help. They keep telling her that she needs to get affidavits from family and friends as a first step. They cannot seem to understand that this isn't going to happen (except by fraud).
One of the problems that she has is that she has no income and no money so that prevents her from doing a lot. She has an idea that her family is from somewhere outside of Chicago, but she is not sure.
20yrsinBranson
Wow, an incredible and sad story. Pointing her in the direction of legal and volunteer services is a good suggestion. It's awful how groups essentially capture and enslave people like this. They are the antithesis of what America and being an individual is about.
Well...honestly, I would weigh the potential consequences of agreeing to the affidavit against your other options for helping her. Would she gain monetary benefits as a result of this affidavit or just confirmed citizenship for herself and her children? I'd worry about getting in trouble if she were getting some sort of benefits but if not my guess is that even if whatever agency she's working with knew without a doubt that you don't have first hand knowledge of her past, they wouldn't care.
But do what you have to do. Figure out what's more ethical: keeping yourself honest or helping this woman rebuild her life.
Well...honestly, I would weigh the potential consequences of agreeing to the affidavit against your other options for helping her. Would she gain monetary benefits as a result of this affidavit or just confirmed citizenship for herself and her children? I'd worry about getting in trouble if she were getting some sort of benefits but if not my guess is that even if whatever agency she's working with knew without a doubt that you don't have first hand knowledge of her past, they wouldn't care.
But do what you have to do. Figure out what's more ethical: keeping yourself honest or helping this woman rebuild her life.
Well, the assumption here is that the woman in question is actually telling the truth about her past. I'm not so sure about it.
Among my numerous hats in life is one called Notary Public. When you sign a statement swearing you know when and where this woman's children were born, you are making a sworn statement. If you DON'T have actual first hand knowledge of this, do NOT sign any such statement and have it notarized.
If you do this, you are at risk of being charged with perjury if this ends badly. Definitely let the authorities, law enforcement, social services, cult deprogrammers, etc. handle this matter. If her story is true, they will know how to proceed. (I suspect it's not.) I especially liked the idea of a lawsuit for child support. That will get the ball rolling quickly.
In short, don't do this and stay as far from it as possible.
Can someone be charged bearing false witness if they knowingly lied for a document that is notarized? I agree 20 yrs, don’t do it.
ETA: just actually read the whole post and my question was answered. Sorry
I'm a little less dubious than some, because I've seen the innumerable hoops my younger sister, whose identity and citizenship I obviously know for certain, has has to jump through to get a SS card and legal IDs as an adult because our parents screwed up her documentation as a kid. The federal government is NOT helpful when it comes to these things.
That said, you have no proof of the story and lying under oath is a terrible idea. If you feel she's legit, I'd suggest helping instead by assisting her in hiring a lawyer or PI, or even doing something like 23&Me to find relatives.
Pay for her to get a dna test from 23andme or ancestry. She might be able to find someone who wants to connect with her and is related to her. You can help her by letting her use your laptop and assistance with contacting people.
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