'If I wanted another child, I would just have one.'
ALBANY, Ore. - An Albany woman accused of trying to steal a baby from a hospital's maternity ward has made her first court appearance. That arraignment wrapped Wednesday afternoon at the Linn County court house in Albany.
The woman is only 25 years old and has three kids of her own, and still police said she tried to abduct a baby from Samaritan Albany Medical Center in September.
In court Wednesday Trinity Hanley Louise Vidal Hernandez faced a handful of charges, including second-degree kidnapping. However, this case is mired in uncertainties.
First, Hernandez never got away with any baby and police said she didn't even get close enough to take one.
Second, Hernandez has told local news that this was a misunderstanding, caused when a nurse over-reacted to a comment Hernandez said she made about a friend's children. Investigators contend that she told hospital workers that her friend was about to deliver triplets to distract them while she snuck up to the maternity ward.
Third, police originally contended that Hernandez wore a hospital scrub uniform to gain access to the hospital. KATU's investigation turned up that she actually worked across the street as a nursing assistant at a care facility.
Fourth, after Wednesday's arraignment Hernandez's father told KATU that the charge doesn't sound like his daughter at all.
Her father, Mark Vidal, said she has no reason to want to abduct a baby because she has three children of her own, and is around plenty of other children in their family.
"I still don't believe a lot of it," said Vidal. "I don't think a lot of it is true."
Hernandez could be freed on $12,000 bail, however the court is banning her from visiting any maternity or neo-natal units of any hospital. Police said Hernandez inquired to work in a Salem hospital's maternity ward a few times over the past year.
Additionally, in court an attorney implied that after this story appeared in the media someone else came forward with claims that Hernandez may have tried this before. KATU has not received confirmation on that claim.
Hernandez is due back in court in November.
KATU has an exclusive interview with the woman accused in this case. Watch her side of the story here: