PACOIMA : Sitter Recants Story of Abandoned Baby

An infant girl who Los Angeles police thought was abandoned by her mother in Pacoima over the weekend was in fact being watched by a sitter who did not know when the woman would return for her child, investigators said Tuesday.

The baby-sitter told police the child was abandoned because she wanted it taken into protective care, officers said. Hours after police put the baby in the custody of child welfare authorities, the mother tearfully asked that the child be returned to her.

Lili Ahmadi, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Children’s Services, said the 3-week-old infant probably would be placed in a foster home with a 1-year-old sister until the mother completes a drug rehabilitation program.

Detective Fred Hascher said the mother gave the baby to a friend to watch Saturday. That person then took the child to another woman, who became nervous when the mother did not return for her baby.

Hascher said the woman told police she found the child behind a grocery store because she thought police would be more likely to take the child if officers thought it had been abandoned. She recanted her story after the child’s mother came forward.