The woman accused of abandoning her newborn child in 2016 near an Orlando apartment complex is once again pregnant, state officials said.
Susan Richardson was the subject of a massive search after she gave birth to a baby girl at or near the Willow Bend apartment complex.
The girl was named “Baby Willow” by police, after the apartment complex where she was born.
She told investigators that she abandoned the baby, but couldn’t remember exactly where.
A clerk at a 7-11 convenience store said Richardson regularly stops by the business.
Since she was released from jail in November after pleading guilty to charges of neglect and desertion, the clerk told Channel 9 that she had asked Richardson what happened to the child.
“She says the baby’s in heaven,” Marjorie Lowe said.
Richardson, who has been living with her longtime boyfriend Johnnie Bryant, was charged with violation of probation in late January, which is when officials learned of her pregnancy.
While her probation requires Richardson not have any unsupervised contact with her current children, there is nothing preventing her from getting pregnant again.
The Florida Department of Children and Families is unable to do anything for the child, Channel 9 legal analyst Belvin Perry said.
“Currently, unborn children have no rights, so the government cannot step in and order her to do certain things for the well being of the unborn child,” he said.
When contacted by WFTV, Bryant would not say if he believed Richardson’s unborn child was his.
When pressed about any concerns he might have about her being pregnant again, considering the Baby Willow case, he became belligerent.
“You concerned, (expletive)?” he quipped to WFTV’s Janine Reyes.
While the baby who went missing in February has never been found, the Baby Willow case was closed when Richardson pleaded guilty to the neglect and desertion charges.
The Florida DCF issued the following statement concerning how it handles situations like this:
"Any individual who is concerned about the safety of a child upon his or her birth (or at any time) is required to call the Florida Abuse Hotline, including medical personnel who are professionally-mandated reporters.
The department does not have jurisdiction over unborn children but the safety and security of every child is our top priority.
If there is an occurrence of childbirth, and a report to the Child Abuse Hotline is created, DCF would then have jurisdiction to investigate and intercede.
To that end, we will do whatever it takes to shelter vulnerable kids from crisis and help them live a normal life free from abuse or neglect."
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