‘Model Mother’ Is Freed From Jail in Tijuana

Bette Winks, the one-time model adoptive parent who spent almost six months in a Tijuana jail on a child-stealing charge, is back home in central Illinois.

Winks, who is suffering from an unspecified ailment, appeared Monday at the McLean County courthouse in Bloomington and posted a $200 cash bond on a pending misdemeanor charge of obstructing a police officer, according to the office of the circuit court clerk in Bloomington.

The charge stemmed from an incident in nearby Hudson on June 12, 1986, in which Winks allegedly impeded sheriff’s deputies who were searching the home of Winks’ baby sitter.

Winks, 50, was recently convicted in Baja California state court of stealing a 1-year-old girl from her natural mother. She and her alleged accomplice, Yvonne Lopez, a Mexican citizen, each received five-year jail sentences from Judge Alejandro Vazquez Rivera. The child, who was unharmed, is back in her mother’s custody.

Pending her appeal in Mexico, Winks was released from the Tijuana city jail after posting a bond of 1.1 million pesos--about $785. She had been imprisoned for almost six months since her arrest in January.

On Wednesday, Judge Vazquez said Winks’ next scheduled appearance before him is on Aug. 14. Vazquez, noting Winks’ deteriorating physical condition and her need for medical treatment, said he was not unduly concerned about her presence in the United States. If Winks doesn’t show up on Aug. 14, he said, she would forfeit the bail and an arrest warrant would be issued for her.

The Winks’ case made headlines on both sides of the border. Winks and her husband, Charles, parents of eight natural children, were honored as one of 12 Illinois adoptive parents of the year in 1982. In time, the couple brought more than 20 other children into their rural home, including many physically disabled infants and poor youths from Tijuana.

Eventually, however, authorities raised questions about the legality of some of the Winkses’ “adoptions.” Officials ultimately took custody of at least 16 children who were once in the Winkses’ household.