Carpentersville woman pleads guilty to abandoning newborn

A Carpentersville woman pleaded guilty Monday to abandoning her newborn daughter after giving birth April 27 in her back yard.

Wendy Sanchez, 21, of the 1900 block of Bristol Circle, was sentenced to 180 days confinement in the Kane County jail, to be followed by 30 months of probation. She is also to complete a parenting course approved by the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services, and undergo a psychological evaluation by the Kane County Diagnostic Center.

The charge is a Class 4 felony, which carries a sentence of 1 to 3 years in prison or conditional discharge or probation.

The girl is in foster care, according to Sanchez's attorney, Warren Breslin.

Assistant State's Attorney Greg Sams detailed the state's case against Sanchez.

According to Sams, Sanchez became pregnant in the fall of 2009, by the 18-year-old boyfriend who is the father of her first child. That child is 11 months old.

She sought an abortion in January at a clinic in Des Plaines, but was turned down because she was too far along in her pregnancy.

Sams said Sanchez never told the boyfriend or her family she was pregnant, even when they suspected so and asked her about it. She told the boyfriend that she had been pregnant, but had an abortion. She lives with her parents.

On Feb. 16, she looked up information on the Internet about partial-birth abortions, according to a printout found in her room during the investigation, Sams said.

On April 27, she took a garbage bag and a towel out to the yard, and gave birth while leaning against a fence, Sams said. Sanchez clipped the umbilical cord with a barrette, held the baby for several hours, breast-fed her, then wrapped her in a towel and placed her in an empty diaper box by the fence.

She returned the next day to feed the baby, but the baby would not eat, he said.

On May 1, a neighbor doing gardening heard whimpers coming from the diaper box. She found the baby and called police.

When the girl was admitted to Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Baby Jane Doe was jaundiced, had a slow heartbeat, and had a temperature of 84.8 degrees.

Sanchez told Carpentersville police she did not go back to the baby because she was too sick to walk or go to work. But she did go to work April 28, 29 and 30, Sams said.

On April 30, her boyfriend took her to a hospital, where staff determined that she had been pregnant. She told the medical workers she was suffering from an abortion by a "bad doctor," Sams said.

During the birth, Sanchez damaged her sciatic nerve, according to her attorney. She now uses a walker to get around.

Judge Thomas Mueller reminded Sanchez that Illinois has had a "safe haven" law for a few years, allowing parents to bring an unwanted infant to a staffed fire station, police station, hospital or emergency medical facility to give it up without criminal repercussions.

"She has serious psychological issues she needs to address," Breslin said. "Fortunately, the baby is in good health.

"She did what she did, and certainly she needs to address what she did."

Sanchez has no criminal history, Sams said.