McDaniel
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Legal Newsline) - Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel announced on Thursday that he has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against a defunct adoption agency that allegedly deceived prospective adoptive families.
The now-defunct Little Rock, Ark.-based Adoption Advantage Inc., owners Ed Webb and Donna Gail Webb, and a former employee, Jaclyn Potter, were named in the suit.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants claimed to specialize in domestic infant adoptions and charged thousands of dollars in up-front fees for its services. The suit further alleges that the company provided false promises of available birth mothers seeking adoptive families for their infants.
McDaniel alleges that the company told people that if they wired money and signed a contract, they could adopt a child immediately, even though no infants were available for adoption through them.
"Many of these consumers gave their entire savings to Adoption Advantage in hopes of finding a baby to adopt," McDaniel said. "This company has not only deceived consumers and taken money, they have crushed the hopes and dreams of individuals hoping to complete their families."
McDaniel is seeking a permanent injunction against the defendants to stop them from engaging in similar illegal practices. He also wants to bar them from collecting any fees in connection with adoptive services and wants all money that was paid to them returned. He also seeks civil penalties.