A former Utah adoption agency owner who was charged with fraud for accepting new clients after a string of disputed adoptions more than a decade ago is now asking for his criminal record to be cleared.
Prosecutors and victims in the case are worried an expungement will create a path for James Charles Webb, 68, to once again provide adoptions, they wrote in court documents.
Webb’s expungement request comes three years after he entered a plea in abeyance in connection with four second-degree felony counts of communications fraud.
Those charges alleged his agency, The Adoption Center of Choice in American Fork, accepted tens of thousands of dollars from prospective adoptive parents in 2013, after state licensors barring the agency from accepting new clients after the string of disputed adoptions.
Despite receiving payment, those adoptions never occurred, according to charging documents. Those prospective adoptive parents, combined, paid more than $100,000 to Webb’s agency, according to the complaint.
Other issues included Webb’s agency placing a baby up for adoption without any consent from the infant’s father, who was married to the baby’s birth mother, as well as allegations that the agency misled clients about other fees and adoption opportunities, The Salt Lake Tribune reported at the time.
Webb was also charged in 2016 with multiple tax-related charges alleging he filed false returns.
He pled in abeyance to charges in both cases on the same day in April 2022. All charges were dismissed this March, after he completed paying restitution to the victims, as part of the plea agreement.
Now that the restitution is paid, Webb’s attorneys argued in a court filing that both cases should be expunged. They noted that Webb consistently made restitution payments — paying off the balance early — and worked more than 250 hours of community service.
Prosecutors are fighting against the request, according to documents filed in 4th District Court. Those attorneys noted in that same filing that two victims also “objected” to the expungement. Three sealed victim impact statements have since been filed in the case, according to the case docket.
“The state is concerned that if Mr. Webb expunges his conviction,” prosecutors wrote, “he will be able to engage in providing adoptions by being license[d] through the state, or arranging private adoptions.”
Webb’s attorneys argued that he previously “promised” that “he will not work in the adoption field again.”
“This still holds true now for Mr. Webb,” they continued, adding that “Webb has not worked in the adoption business for over 11 years and will never work in that industry again.”
Webb’s attorneys did not respond to The Tribune’s request for comment.
Oral arguments on the matter are scheduled for Jan. 27 in Provo’s 4th District courthouse.
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