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Woman Charged With Snatching Baby In Harlem In 1987 Enters Plea

NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- The woman charged with snatching a newborn girl from Harlem Hospital more than two decades ago made another appearance in a Manhattan Court Thursday.

Carlina White Then and Now
Carlina White Then and Now (credit: CBS)

Ann Pettway entered a not guilty plea to a kidnapping charge during her arraignment.

When asked by a federal judge in Manhattan if she was pleading not guilty to a kidnapping charge, she firmly responded "yes sir.'' Her lawyer said outside court they are searching for evidence that somebody else snatched the infant.

She has been held without bail since being arrested in January, charged with kidnapping Carlina White in 1987.

White was 23-years-old when she was finally reunited with her birth mother, Joy White, who said the reunion was a miracle but their relationship is difficult.

White said she understood why her daughter, who lives in Atlanta, would want to continue her relationship with her adoptive family. She said it's because they're the ones who raised her and that's all she knows.

Pettway has confessed to taking the baby, a criminal complaint prepared by FBI Agent Maria Johnson said.

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Pettway said she had had difficulty having her own children in the 1980s, was dealing with the stress of trying to be a mother and had suffered several miscarriages, when she went to the hospital and saw the baby, Johnson said.

"Pettway took the victim from the victim's family and this was totally unacceptable. Pettway is truly sorry," Johnson said Pettway told her in a written statement on Jan. 23.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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