Mother, 18, Must Leave Baby to Serve Time for Kidnaping

A young woman who gave birth while in jail had to leave her 6-week-old daughter behind Monday to begin serving a three-year term for kidnaping at a state Youth Authority correctional facility.

Darlene Johnson, 18, was sentenced in the March 27 abduction of a baby from a Garden Grove day-care center. The child was recovered unhurt after about eight hours.

Johnson was five months pregnant with her first child at the time. Under pressure from her boyfriend to have an abortion, the confused young woman took the child in an attempt to demonstrate that she could care for the child she desperately wanted, her lawyer said.

“The one bottom-line belief I have is that my daughter needs some kind of counseling more than she needs three years in jail,” said Sherry Johnson, 37, Darlene’s mother.

“She doesn’t deserve sympathy,” countered Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher J. Evans. “The parents are the ones who deserve sympathy. They went through eight hours of hell while the kid was gone. When your child is gone, you assume the worst. You think you’re already a statistic.”

The sentence was imposed by Orange County Superior Court Judge Myron S. Brown in Santa Ana.

At the time of the crime, Johnson was unmarried, had left her home and was five months pregnant with a child she wanted, but the father did not, said James Richard Appel, the deputy public defender who represented her.

Johnson visited the Young Horizons day-care center in Garden Grove twice, saying she wanted to place a child. On the second visit, Johnson waited until an employee was distracted, then took 14-month-old Victoria Marie Clark.

Played With Toddler

Johnson, who entered a guilty plea two weeks ago, took the child to her mother’s home in Garden Grove. There, she played with the toddler and dressed her in Johnson’s own baby clothes, Appel said.

Neighbors who had seen the child pointed the house out to Boy Scouts who were canvassing the area. Police found the child in a search of the house, and she was reunited with her parents eight hours after she disappeared.

Authorities said the child was unharmed.

A probation officer who studied Johnson’s case recommended probation, while a prison psychologist advised a prison sentence, Appel said.

“She was having a lot of emotional problems,” Appel said. “She took the child to show the boyfriend that she could take care of a child. What she did was absolutely wrong, no doubt about that. But she didn’t hurt the child.

“She needs probation and psychiatric help, which she won’t get in state prison.”

Evans said Johnson had hidden the child in the home. Police found the toddler only after a search.

“The fact that the kid wasn’t hurt was fortuitous. Who knows what would have happened?” Evans said.

He pointed to the fact that the psychiatrist recommended against release.

“What the hell are we going to tell the next victim? We thought we’d take a chance on probation? It’s too risky,” Evans said.

The judge credited Johnson with the equivalent of 355 days already served. She was turned over to the Youth Authority and will spend her time with other young women. Her probable release date is December of 1988, Appel said.

Johnson’s 6-week-old daughter, Cassandra, will be cared for by Sherry Johnson, who has three sons living at home. In addition, Sherry Johnson said her own mother helps.

Sherry Johnson said she was thankful that Brown had given Darlene two weeks of freedom with her infant daughter before the sentencing Monday.

Darlene has proven herself a “good mother,” Sherry Johnson said.

“She was caring for her; she was sensitive to her needs. I was very pleased with how well she did with her daughter,” Sherry Johnson said. “She turned out to be a good mother.”