Woman claiming to be a nurse attempts to steal newborn from hospital

A nurse technician in Brazil faked being pregnant, and was then allegedly caught on camera stealing a baby out of a hospital.

Key Takeaways:

• Auricelia de Sousa Rocha was a nurse technician at the Dona Evangelina Rosa Maternity Hospital.

• Police said she had led relatives to believe she was pregnant.

• Rocha allegedly approached multiple teenage mothers in the hospital asking about their babies.

• She told the 14-year-old mother that she needed to take the baby for tests.

• CCTV footage caught her wearing scrubs and carrying the baby, along with a black bag.

• The mother's aunt intervened, and found the baby stuffed into the black bag.

The Details:

On July 6, Auricelia de Sousa Rocha, a nurse technician at the Dona Evangelina Rosa Maternity Hospital in Teresina, was detained after allegedly kidnapping a newborn baby.

According to authorities, Rocha had approached several mothers in the hospital before settling on a 14-year-old. Dressed in scrubs, Rocha told the girl she was a nurse, and the baby needed a routine heel prick, according to her aunt.

"We went to the third floor," her aunt said. "We went down to the second floor and then we got near a room and she said, 'Look, I'm going in here, but you have to stay out there because they can't see you here. Sit on that little bench and I'll be right back with her.' She already had this big black bag on her side. I gave her the baby, but I already had a bad feeling."

CCTV footage showed Rocha dressed in scrubs carrying the baby, as well as the black bag.

Brazilian media reported that family believed Rocha was pregnant, though she never supplied any pregnancy tests.

Zoom In:

The girl's aunt said Rocha then went into a bathroom; when she emerged, she had changed into different clothes, and the baby was nowhere to be found. So the aunt jumped into action, and confronted Rocha.

"When I saw her, she was already leaving with the bag in front of her, wearing completely different clothes, her hair loose and wearing glasses, but you could already tell she was being careful," she said. "I pulled the bag and saw the baby, very still."

Rocha told her that she was an employee and that it "wasn't what it seemed." The aunt called for police, but the hospital security guards came instead.

"I asked where they were, because I said I wanted them to call the police, and that was denied," she said. "What they did was call a psychologist to talk to them and then they dropped us off at home."

Rocha's lawyer has claimed that she has been diagnosed with Acute Polymorphic Psychotic Disorder with schizophrenic symptoms, and was in the midst of a psychiatric episode. Yet when police went to her home, they found a nursery set up with baby clothes, diapers, a crib, and a bathtub.

The Bottom Line:

The case is being investigated as an attempted kidnapping, and authorities are denying that mental illness played a role.