Alleged kidnapper out on bail in Pierce County ‘should never have been’ released
Feb 18, 2020, 10:49 AM
(KIRO 7)
An alleged attempted kidnapper in Pierce County is out on bail ahead of her arraignment Tuesday afternoon, and authorities are concerned she may already be on the run.
Woman posing as baby photographer drugged victims
Pierce County law enforcement alleges Juliette Parker planned to steal a newborn baby to raise as her own, after posing as a photographer and drugging the child’s mother with a cupcake.
Parker was released over the weekend on $5,000 bail (originally set at $50,000 but bonded down to 10%), and the Sheriff’s Department is now worried that after a lengthy investigation, she might be in the wind.
“We won’t be surprised if she doesn’t show up today,” Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Ed Troyer told KIRO Radio’s Gee and Ursula Show. “At this point, we do not know where our suspect is.”
Troyer’s concerns stem from the fact that Parker has a history of operating under numerous aliases, moving from city to city to conceal a lengthy history of committing crimes. Authorities suspect she’s been targeting newborn girls under five weeks old, and has posed as a photographer at least a dozen other times in repeated attempts to kidnap a child.
Parker also ran for mayor of Colorado Springs under her current alias in 2019.
As for why she was released on bail, Troyer points to a process over the weekend that never should have happened.
Both sides: When a detective’s child goes missing
“In this particular case, (what) should have happened is at least wait until today, when (Parker) would have went in front of a judge and prosecutors,” he said. “[That way], everybody’s there to present a case against her and then make those bail decisions.”
“Don’t do it over the weekend, or don’t have that type of bail placed on somebody over the weekend and have them out and gone in the wind before anybody even knows it,” he added.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department has a contingency plan in place in the event she misses her 1:30 p.m. arraignment on Tuesday. If that does happen, authorities will mobilize in effort to relocate her as soon as possible.
Suspect Juliette Parker, AKA Juliette Noel, Juliette Gaines. Our deputies booked her for Assault 2nd degree & Attempted Kidnapping. We are being contacted by multiple expectant mothers & mothers of newborns who were in communication with her. Please call us if you have any info. pic.twitter.com/l7OqPyUUvl
— Pierce Co Sheriff (@PierceSheriff) February 16, 2020
Listen to the Gee and Ursula Show weekday mornings from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.