Last year, on March 28, Jennifer Latham, 40, of Sanford, Florida, walked into a local hospital maternity ward, dressed like a nurse, took a one-day-old baby from his mother’s arms, and left the hospital with the baby concealed in a bag.  Later that day, police stopped her on an interstate highway and returned the unharmed baby to his mother.

In February, the Florida woman pleaded guilty to kidnapping and today was sentenced to 30 years in prison.  During today’s sentencing, Latham apologized to the circuit judge but gave no explanation of her actions other than to say she is depressed, suffering from anxiety, and needs help.

Wade Myers, a psychiatrist for Latham’s defense, testified that Latham was obsessed with motherhood and had become depressed last year after losing a custody bid for her own two school-aged children.  Her ex-husband was awarded custody in 2003.

Earlier in the day before Latham kidnapped the unidentified baby, she’d been babysitting her sister’s children.  Afterward she went home, showered, and when to Central Florida Regional Hospital, where she’d given birth to her own children.

Once at the hospital, Latham went to the hospital’s maternity ward, where she changed into nurse’s clothes and donned a fake hospital ID badge.  Security cameras show her going from room to room, wearing different clothes.  While in the maternity ward, she took a one-day-old baby boy from his mother’s arms and hid him in a bag.  A security camera in the hallway shows her leaving, with the bag tucked under her arm.

Latham took the baby home, where she fed him and planned to raise him with her boyfriend.  About an hour later, she strapped the child into an infant car seat in the backseat of her SUV and took off down the interstate.

Once on the interstate, a police officer from Lake Mary, Florida, spotted the SUV and pulled it over.  He found the baby unharmed.

Attorneys for the prosecution had asked for a life sentence for Latham, citing the fake ID badge and nurse’s clothes as evidence her moves were calculated and she acted with premeditated intent to abduct a baby that day.