A 14-year-old girl who had just given birth is seen on video giving the newborn baby to a stranger inside a New Jersey restaurant, then leaving the establishment.
The incident occurred Wednesday in Jersey City at an eatery called El Patron, where a woman named Alease Scott and her boyfriend were having lunch when the girl walked in carrying the infant wrapped in a brown towel.
In closed circuit television footage shared by TMZ, the girl walks up to the counter and exchanges words with the staff. She then sits down in a chair and appears to be crying. Scott approaches her and has a brief conversation with her, offering her napkins. The girl puts the baby in Scott’s arms, who sits down with the infant at her table. The teen walks over to Scott’s table momentarily, appearing to check on the newborn, before turning and walking out of the restaurant.
The video then cuts to Scott holding the baby, surrounded by Jersey City Police.
Scott told authorities that the young mother asked her for help, and Scott told her she was trained in CPR and could check the baby’s vitals. The infant — a baby girl — appeared to be having trouble breathing. According to the report, she may have had some of her umbilical cord still attached.
Frankie Aguilar, an employee of the restaurant, told NJ.com that when the 14-year-old walked into El Patron, “she kind of looked a little bit desperate.” He said staff members called the police even before she left the restaurant.
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The newborn baby was transported to the hospital via ambulance, and the teen — once located, not far away — was also treated at the Jersey City Medical Center.
The state of New Jersey has a Safe Haven Infant Protection Law allowing its residents to leave an unharmed, unwanted baby who is less than 30 days old with an ambulance, first aid or rescue squad or at any hospital emergency room, fire station or police station.
In this case, local prosecutors will not file charges against the 14-year-old, and the baby girl will be put up for adoption.
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