Prosecutor: Parents stole thousands from families hoping to adopt fetus delivered drugged, stillborn

BATAVIA, Ohio (WXIX) - Two people face fraud charges after receiving thousands of dollars for the adoption of a child delivered stillborn, according to Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve.

A Clermont County grand jury on Friday indicted Roxanne Barbara Hayes, 33, and Billy Ray Goforth, 21.

The pair remain at-large. Arrest warrants are issued for both.

Hayes was the child’s mother and Goforth the child’s father, according to the prosecutor’s office. Hayes delivered it stillborn at 35 weeks.

On March 14, sheriff’s deputies responded to the stillborn fetus at an address on Ireton Trees Road between Moscow and Bethel in Washington Township.

It’s not clear whether the fetus was delivered at that time or sometime prior.

An autopsy found the fetus, weighing just 3.5 lbs., had fentanyl, norfentanyl, morphine and methamphetamine in its system, according to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office.

The prosecutor’s office says Hayes and Goforth had entered into adoption agreements with two separate families and had taken more than $5,000 from those families towards the child’s adoption.

At the same time, according to the prosecutor’s office, Hayes applied for assistance through the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. Claiming she hadn’t received any money, she allegedly collected an additional $2,320 from ODJFS.

The prosecutor’s office did not say at what point in the pregnancy Hayes and Goforth entered into the adoption agreements.

Hayes faces three counts of theft, three counts of telecommunications fraud, two counts of falsification and one count of tampering with records.

Goforth faces two counts of theft, three counts of telecommunications fraud and two counts of falsification.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Hayes or Goforth is urged to contact the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.

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