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GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalan authorities say five hospital employees have been arrested for allegedly stealing a baby from its mother and beginning the process for its adoption.
Prosecutors said in a statement Tuesday that those detained include a Guatemala City doctor who participated in the child's birth and signed an altered birth certificate.
The statement said those under arrest are accused of abuse of authority and a cover up for trying to register a child who was taken from its mother two months earlier.
Guatemala reformed its adoption process in 2007 to combat a corrupt system that involved judges, lawyers and others essentially selling children.
According to official reports, more than 90 percent of the Guatemalan adoptions prior to 2007 were made by couples from the United States.
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