Woman Who Kidnapped New Born Baby And Raised Her For 19 Years Sentenced

On Monday, a woman, who kidnapped a newborn baby from her sleeping mother in hospital 19 years ago, has been sentenced to ten years in jail by a judge who told her she “betrayed and lied to” the child. She allegedly raised the baby as her own.

The presiding judge, John Hlope, sitting at Cape Town’s high court, told the 52-year-old woman – who cannot be named to protect the adopted identity of her victim – that her actions had caused “so much harm” to the child’s biological family, The Telegraph learnt.

The victim, who her family named Zephany Nurse, was taken from a maternity ward at Groote Schuur Hospital in 1997. Her kidnapper raised her as her own.

Zephany’s real parents, Celeste and Morne Nurse and their other children celebrated their lost child’s birthday with a cake each year and made regular media appeals in a bid to find her.

The girl’s real identity came to light in February 2015, when her younger biological sister began attending high school and pupils pointed out her remarkable resemblance to a final-year student. The younger girl told her parents, who met the older girl and immediately thought she could be their long-lost child.

The family then called in the police who conducted a DNA test and determined that the girls were indeed sisters.

The kidnapper claimed during her trial that she was given the baby in an informal adoption and had been “tricked” into accepting the abducted child. “No-one believes me at this moment and I’m a victim myself,” she said in an interview shortly before her conviction.

Judge Hlope dismissed the account as a “fairytale” and told the woman her sentence was stiffer because she had refused to admit the truth or show remorse.

The judge said the crime was premeditated and too serious not to warrant a jail sentence.

Photo credit: Telegraph