( CNN ) -- An American relief worker jailed in Haiti under suspicion of kidnapping a 15-month-old boy has been released , the man told CNN Wednesday . `` As soon as they said I was being released I was at first shocked and could n't believe it because it was already dark and normally nothing happens after sun goes down around there , '' Paul Waggoner , who had been held since mid-December in Port-au-Prince , said in an interview . Waggoner was being transported Wednesday to a safe location to receive medical attention , according to a statement from Materials Management Relief Corps , a group that he co-founded . `` Waggoner spent 18 harrowing days incarcerated in Haiti , accused of kidnapping a child despite undeniable evidence that the child in question had died at Haitian Community Hospital last February , '' the group said in a statement . `` No charges were brought against Waggoner ... even though he was held in the notoriously dangerous penitentiary for two weeks , '' the statement said . Waggoner had been held in the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince . Interviewed by phone from an undisclosed location on Wednesday , Waggoner said a judge had found `` contradictions '' in statements from the boy 's father . Waggoner said the boy 's parents had been trying to extort him and that `` it was a matter of a father and a mother trying to make a dime off of their kid . '' A Haitian judge had concluded that sufficient evidence existed to hold Waggoner while investigators evaluated the father 's complaint that the American kidnapped his critically-ill son from a hospital , according to Jon Piechowski , a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Haiti . The Materials Management Relief Corps is a humanitarian organization that seeks to provide logistical support to medical workers in Haiti , where a major earthquake caused extensive damage in January . According to the group 's website , Waggoner lives in Nantucket , Massachusetts . Waggoner was working at the Haitian Community Hospital in Petionville in February when a Haitian man sought treatment for his 15-month-old son . Accounts differ as to what happened next , but the father believes the child survived and that Waggoner kidnapped him , according to Piechowski . Waggoner 's supporters , including two physicians , have said the child died , and that his body was cremated because the father would not claim the remains . Dr. Kenneth Adams , a volunteer physician on staff at the Haitian Community Hospital , said he was present when the child 's father returned to see his son and `` witnessed as the father looked at the baby for several minutes , waiting for the baby to breathe . '' The man took pictures with the deceased baby before he left , Adams said . The father filed a complaint against Waggoner in March . Piechowski said Waggoner left Haiti without answering the accusations and was arrested December 12 after returning to the country . One account provided by supporters says the father handed Waggoner the child at the hospital . Another says Waggoner may have transported the child to the hospital . Regardless , Waggoner had nothing to do with the child 's care , according to his supporters . `` I was there through the whole thing , and what kills me is that Paul basically had nothing to do with the whole situation , '' said Jeff Quinlan , who said he was working as director of security at the hospital when the child arrived . Quinlan said he told the father that the boy had died and instructed him to return within 24 hours to take the body . But he said the father instead returned with a `` witch doctor '' claiming the child was still alive . Quinlan and Waggoner 's organization said a doctor who treated the boy has signed an affidavit confirming that the child died , saying that the father had viewed the body and that he had declined to claim the remains because he did not have resources to bury the child . Quinlan said earlier that he believed Haitian authorities were trying to extort money from Waggoner . A friend of Waggoner 's recently expressed concern that the relief worker would face danger upon being released . `` I think the biggest concern I 've got for his safety once he 's out of prison , '' said Paul Sebring , a fellow aid worker , `` is that , you know , people surrounding this case may not be happy with the ruling that 's happened and may come after him in some sense . '' But Waggoner said Wednesday that he hopes to do more aid work in Haiti . `` I would n't say that anybody needs to have second thoughts about coming down here , '' he said . `` If any aid workers want to do work in Haiti they should absolutely do it . The people here absolutely need it . '' The United States was keeping close watch on the case , the State Department has said , but it was unclear whether officials were working for Waggoner 's release . `` We have monitored his court appearances and continue to track the case closely , '' said P.J . Crowley , a spokesman for the State Department , said earlier this week .
Paul Waggoner had been held for 18 days in Port-au-Prince . He was jailed on suspicion of kidnapping a 15-month-old boy . Waggoner says boy 's parents were trying to extort him . He says he wants to do more aid work in Haiti .