CALLEBAS, Haiti (AP) _ In a struggling village near Haiti’s capital, parents are saying they willingly gave their children to American missionaries who showed up in a bus, promising a better life. That contradicts claims by the leader of the Baptist group, who has said the children came from orphanages or distant relatives.

The ten Baptists have been questioned by an investigating magistrate before a prosecutor decides whether to file charges against them. Haitian officials have called them child traffickers. The Haitian parents say they surrendered the children last week. A local orphanage worker, acting on behalf of the Baptists, had gathered nearly the entire village to present the Americans’ offer. A Haitian pastor who acted as an intermediary says parents who were “hopeless and homeless” jumped at the chance to give their children “a better future” after last month’s earthquake.