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Prosecutor says woman who kidnapped baby scouted hospital security

Healthcare Security Weekly, March 26, 2007

The woman accused of taking a days-old infant from a Lubbock, TX hospital maternity unit had scouted security measures at the facility before the March 10 abduction, according to a prosecutor in the case.

More details about the abduction emerged at a detention hearing March 16 during which 21-year-old Rayshaun Parson was ordered held in jail to face kidnapping charges. The attorney prosecuting the case said Parson also went to another maternity ward in Lubbock the day the baby was abducted, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Parson, dressed in scrubs, allegedly took the baby from Covenant Lakeside Hospital in Lubbock. Authorities found the baby the next day unharmed in Clovis, NM.

The prosecuting attorney said Parson also spent time in the maternity ward at University Medical Center in Lubbock. However, the security system at that hospital, in which a tag is attached to a newborn's umbilical clip, discouraged her, the attorney said. To remove the umbilical tag would be difficult and could cause the baby to bleed, as well as experience extreme discomfort, a medical center spokesman told the AP.

Parson instead went to Covenant Lakeside, where babies wear a security leg bracelet. She cut off the infant's bracelet and left the hospital, the attorney said. The hospital was alerted when the baby was separated from the security tag, but Parson walked out of the hospital around 1:20 a.m. carrying a large purse.

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