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Ann Pettway raised a child taken from a New York hospital two decades ago. On Friday, she pleaded guilty to kidnapping.
NEW YORK -- A woman who snatched a baby from a New York City hospital in 1987 then raised the child as her own daughter has pleaded guilty to kidnapping.
Ann Pettway of Raleigh, N.C., entered the guilty plea Friday at a federal courthouse in Manhattan.
As part of her plea bargain, prosecutors agreed to recommend between 10 and 12½ years in prison for the 51-year-old.
Pettway grabbed Carlina White from Harlem Hospital while masquerading as a worker. She then raised Carlina in Connecticut, posing as her mother for 23 years.
Read the original story on NBCNewYork.com
The birth mother, Joy White, wept during Friday's court session. She says she's outraged over the plea bargain and thinks Pettway should spend at least two decades behind bars.
Carlina White discovered her past in 2010 with the help of the Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the NYPD. She was reunited with her Bronx family last year.
The judge set a May sentencing date.
This post includes reporting from NBCNewYork.com and The Associated Press.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
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Psycho.
Witch.
Psycho witch.
Psycho Witch Freak
smooth comment
smooth psycho freak witch dirtbag
Look at her mug.
hey dumb and dumber...as far as her mug goes jimreaper I have seen uglier women get laid or even married heh ....and the reason she maybe didnt have a baby since I very much doubt there is a women who exist that cant get a man to stick it in her ugly asre...pardon my disgusting comment...but I bet she maybe uhmm hmm CANT have kids? ya think that might be it idk ...maybe just maybe
that doesnt at all mean I dont aggree she is a
"smooth psycho freak witch dirtbag" + scandolous biotch
How terrifying that she got away with this for so long... I'm glad the daughter found her real family and wasn't left with Stockholm syndrome.
What a terrible thing to have happened. However, after 23 years this woman is the child's mother. Regardless of how she came to have that child, she is the child's mother and I'm sure the child probably still holds her very dear because you don't just stop loving someone, especially someone you have called "Mom" all of those years.
No, she is the child's KIDNAPPER.
How much time passes before a person goes from kidnapper to mother? Getting away with a crime for 23 years does not make her a mother!
LindaD-I think I understand the point you're trying make. This young lady didn't know that her "mother" wasn't her bio mom and I'm sure had an emotional connection. 23 years is a long time to think someone is your parent and just because she turned out to be a kidnapper that doesn't mean those feelings just disappear. Poor girl-she must be be so confused and angry.
earlier news stories say the daughter disliked the abusive mother and did not understand why she would kidnap her and then be a horrible mother.
If this young lady sought help from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the NYPD, I'm guessing hers was not a fairytale childhood where her beloved mommy just happened to not be her biological mother. Someone depraved or delusional enough to steal someone else's newborn child and claim it as their own is not going to have the emotional maturity or wherewithal to be a good parent. This is not a case of switched at birth or adoption. This was not a good intentioned woman doing the best she could for the child she loved. This was a sick, selfish criminal who robbed a mother and father of years of their child's life. This is a demented individual who robbed an innocent, newborn baby of knowing her parents who wanted and loved her. I feel sorry for the young woman and the pain that she must be going through -- but this criminal is no mother and all indications are she wasn't even good enough at pretending to be to keep that child happily with her -- the grown child sought help from outsiders to figure out who she really was. Getting away with a crime for 23 years does not make it any less of a crime.
Lady you're as crazy as that kidnapper is. She is'nt that childs mother,if that girl thought she was, then why would she have looked for her real mother? Duh.
"However, after 23 years this woman is the child's mother."
No, the woman is a selfish, criminal kidnapper; nothing more, nothing less.
Some of you people should spend less time assuming and more time reading. The "child" in this case solved her own kidnapping because she didn't feel the "attachment" to her "mother" she thought she should. So she started looking at national databases for missing and exploited children until she came across a picture that looked like herself. She's ecstatic to be reunited with her real mother.
anyone who would make the decision to STEAL this baby from its real parents is an unfit mother.
LindaD: Are you serious, I mean, Are you serious?????????????????????????? At first I thought, ok, mabe I'm not reading this right, but are you serious??????????
You have it all wrong! A MOTHER is someone who gives BIRTH to a baby. This witch KIDNAPPED this child from her MOTHER! This does NOT make her the mother of this child. Try Kidnapping caretaker, if you will. You're demented if you think that this nasty, nappy haired, high lookin', kidnapper is the mother! And....why the HELL is she getting 10 -12 1/2 years! Seems like she should get LIFE in prison without the possibility of parole. She killed the families dreams away from their child.
Looney linda: rush to get psychiatric help, like this freak of a woman should have.
Uh hello, the kidnapper had the same mentality... If I take it and keep it, its mine. There is no punishment fitting enough for this monster. Nothing will ever give the real mother and daughter back what was stolen from them.
you must be very liberal!!! this woman should spend the rest of her life in prison. she ruined a family....
lroddy4 - tell that to an ADOPTIVE mother!! I understand what LindaD is trying to say. Have some empathy people!! I agree that the kidnapper is a horrible person and has done an enormous amount of damage to all members of this family. LindaD is simply trying to see something from the child's eyes. I'm glad that the child went looking for her biological parents. This psycho kidnapper is the only parent this child knew for 23 years!! So glad she found them. Think of all the other kids that hope they are kidnapped/adopted only to find that they really are their parents. I hope the girl and her real family can move on with life and heal the wounds caused by this nightmare.
Just remember though people, you don't have to give birth to be a mother. You don't have to be a good parent to be a mother (although it would be nice). Think before you type!!
Sorry for posting exactly what familyof5 posted
lroddy4
"You have it all wrong! A MOTHER is someone who gives BIRTH to a baby."
My mother is adopted, does that mean that her "parents" MY "grandparents" should be called something different? Some children actually associate step-parents as better parents than thier birth. I understand the point she is making, but YES this woman stole the baby. Nowhere in the story does it say anything about how she was raised but I would still feel like she was my mother to some point. I do not condone kidnapping but that was not the point of the comment.
She's the child's mother? You are INSANE for that reasoning and that is one of the most idiotic things I've heard.
@lroddy4: A MOTHER does not give birth to a child, a WOMAN does. There is an enormous difference and sadly that goes unrecognized far too often!! I have four beautiful children, one I gave birth to and three that came with their father, whom I've raised for 17 years. I AM THEIR MOTHER, not the moron who had them and decided she "didn't want boys". This obviously unstable person robbed a family,not just a mother! For that, I think she should get ten years for ever year she took away fromt his child and her family! That sounds fair to me- 'cause if anybody tried to take my child, whether I gave birth to them or not, better run.......awfully fast.
@familyof5: Kudos to you for showing some of these ridiculous posts that suggest you can only be a mother if you give birth. In my opinion, you're a mother if you give a chlid a life. Birth is just the way to get to us.
Anything less than life without parole is not enough
For all of the pain Pettway caused to Joy White and her family, 10-12 1/2 years is a just a slap in the face! If my baby were taken from me, it would ruin me for years. I would have a mental and emotional breakdown and would probably not be able to hold a job. The penalty for kidnapping should be much higher.
At least she raised the child and didn't do things like POS Casey Anthony or Josh Powell. And THEY got away with it. This woman did wrong but could have done much worse. Something to be said for that.
Not really. A horrible, despicable crime is not made any better just because some else did something worse. That logic makes no sense. This crime can only be judged for what it is.
I surfed this story in Wikipedia. I found some interesting twists and turns of the story. Here you go
"Upon being reunited with her biological parents, Carlina White's attorney advised her to ask them about the cash settlement from the hospital. Carl Tyson and Joy White both confirmed that most of this money had been spent during the years before their reunion.[1] Joy White later stated that there had been a falling out over the issue of the money.[19]
In May 2011, public defender Robert Baum said that he met Carlina White during preparations for Ann Pettway's trial and that White agreed to testify on Pettway's behalf.[20] By the following July, White became estranged from her biological parents and continues to go by the name of Nejdra Nance; she said the issue over the settlement funds was "just a misunderstanding."
Her sentence is a joke.
Have her trial in Fla. and she might just get off!!
If she would have been tried in Mississippi, she would have been pardoned.
I guess it all depends on the 23 year old girl. Yes this person stole her real life and needs to pay for it, she did give her another life only one person can tell you good or bad. The second (first) family will never really know this person the way they should have. Only one person has a right to deside if she is going to call her mom or not. As her ?father? I would want total destruction of this woman, but what does the young woman want now may be a little different than later.
So... if you kidnap a child, brainwash and keep it long enough until it is an adult, as long as they say it is OK, then you shouldn't get into any trouble? Really??
If you read the rest of the story, the child was not treated well by the kidnapper. They lived on the street for a while so don't think she was wonderful.
How very sad all the way around. I do not see a happy ending here for anyone.
Why not? The young woman had a miserable life growing up with her abusive kidnapper. Now she has a chance to get to know her real family. Is that a guarantee of happiness? Of course not. But the potential is certainly there. Let's just wish the reunited family all the best.
Frances: Well if there is an unhappy ending for the kidnapper, so what she deserves it!
I agree,,,,,the woman committed a crime and for that, she should suffer the consequences that go along with it. Had she stolen my child, I wouldn't think 10 years is nearly enough, either. Put her away for life.
Wow! You can ruin AT LEAST two peoples' lives (the mother and daughter) and all the DA can pull off giving her is 10 to 12! Can you imagine living 20 years not knowing if your daughter has been sold out of the country in the sex trade as a slave?
Where in the hell did this District Attorney get his Law Degree? The drive through?
WiderGlider: Lol, that's the truth, and some people get their drivers liscense from WalMart! Anyone that feels sorry for the kidnapper are not in their right mind!
IT WAS A LIE!!! 23 years of lying to the girl, that she was her mother. Abusive. They were homeless at one point. AND the poor REAL mother!: wondering for 23 years whether or not her baby was dead somewhere or what... life without parole!!!
This lady who kidnapped the child was abusive and mean to the girl. I completly agree with the biological mom. She should get NO LESS than 20 years in prison. She took 20 years from this child and her real family. Why are they cutting her slack...because shes older?!?! Ridiculous!!!
...from the mug shot, she looks like she's growing a nice 'stache ...
They gonna make you take yo ugly nose ring out, ghurl!
I'm a dad of teenage children- my vote would be to give this Beach a lead lobotomy and be done
hurt my kids- I hurt yu
This is just awful! The poor mother, father, and daughter! This father and mother had their baby taken away from them. There is no way to regain the years with their baby, child, now adult daughter. What an awful thing. No punishment is long enough for what happened to the mother and father. At least the daughter didn't know until she was older, but the parents lived with this horrible loss for 23 years of their lives!
In addition to her sentence, she should be forced to pay back all of the tax money she received while she claimed the child as a dependent. And if she used any sort of welfare during the childs up bringing, she should have to pay ALL of that back as well.
I was just happy to hear the girl was able to reunite with her birth Mother...I remember hearing this story back in 2010 and how 'difficult' the birth mom and daughter were having becoming adjusted to the whole thing. I just hope and pray that as time continues to move forward for the two of them, that they can build the strong bonds between one another that they BOTH were robbed of from the get go.
She stole the child of another family. She destroyed a family. She should at least spend as much time in prison as she did lying to the child about being her mother....and the amount of years the childs family suffered. What an evil person. I was not able to have any children, but I would NEVER have thought of taking someone elses baby. Evil.....
This is a sad case for all parties involved. I hope Carlina is able to establish a loving relationship with her real mother.
She personally destroyed the birth mother and her family and their entire outlook on life. She is now 51 years old. She should not be allowed out of prison in 10-12 years so she can collect early retirement. Let her rot in Hell.
I am relieved the daughter found out the truth. However, this person who stole her destroyed at minimum 3 peoples lives...the mother, father, and the child's. 60 years for each life would be appropriate. This little plea deal to save money does not do this case justice. SHAME on the law enforcement agency that accepted this. Perhaps they do not have qualified staff in there state/county to handle this properly? LOL..ah...that is the answer.
This agency is not "up to par" so they plea deal it....nuke the whole force and start over, the best solution.
I always though that a coviction of guilt in a kidnapping case carried an automatic sentence of twenty to life.
Excuse me. I meant CONviction.
It's a plea bargain. The DA is saying he will recommend 10-12.5 years. I would love to see the judge on this one deny the plea bargain. That is always a possibility but very rarely done.
10 to 12 years for this crime is a joke. Thats New York I guess.