WOODLAND HILLS : Charges Are Denied in Baby-Selling Case
A Woodland Hills woman accused of trying to sell her unborn baby to two couples pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Van Nuys Municipal Court to misdemeanor charges of fraud and violating the state’s adoption laws.
Janida Ruth Latorre, 31, who is seven months pregnant, is to be tried Sept. 16 on two counts of grand theft and two counts of violating state adoption laws.
Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn said that evidence suggested that Latorre “had no intention of ever honoring her commitment to either couple.”
In a statement, Hahn said that Latorre initiated negotiations with attorneys representing a Los Alamitos couple and a Pennsylvania couple and accepted a total of more than $2,000 from them to pay her expenses during pregnancy.
If convicted of the misdemeanor charges, Latorre, who is free without bail, could be sentenced to a year in jail and fined up to $1,000.
On Tuesday, a Canoga Park woman was sentenced to two years in prison for trying to dupe two couples into buying her unborn baby. It was her second conviction in four years for illegal baby-selling.
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