The dark reality of baby kidnappings: Insights from a former police officer
Former cop, Charles Julies, now part of the Lentegeur Community Policing Forum.
Image: Genevieve Serra
Exactly 16 years ago, former police officer Charles Julies solved two baby kidnapping cases with the help of a dedicated team in Mitchell's Plain.
He now cites the common reasons for infant abductions as due to post-natal depression and miscarriages, and human trafficking in the form of “back-door adoptions."
“There are two types of human trafficking in cases of infant abductions, where the mother has suffered miscarriages and is desperate to have a baby and will take one to fill that void, or when the suspect will scout hospitals for mothers who are young and vulnerable because they have a client, someone who is willing to pay a lot of money for a baby,” he said.
This month, as the public's attention is on the case of Mogamat Imaad Sharmar, who was 9 days old when he was kidnapped, Julies told the Cape Argus the case had similar hallmarks to an abduction he cracked and solved in September 2009, just over a month after the infant was snatched from Tygerberg Hospital.
"Baby S" was abducted by Bulelwa Xeza, who was 31 at the time and from Mfuleni, who had suffered a miscarriage.
She pretended to be pregnant, and even had her boyfriend decorate a baby room at their residence.
Baby S was found in Xeza’s home in Mfuleni, thanks to the determination of Julies and the diligence of the Crime Prevention Unit who had responded to a tip-off which led them to her doorstep.
Praise for police officer who found stolen baby.
Image: File
Xeza was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, five of which was suspended on condition that she was not found guilty of kidnapping or attempted kidnapping
On June 28, Imaad was kidnapped from his mother, Imaan Sharmar, at Middestad Mall in Bellville, allegedly by a woman who claimed she was part of an NGO who helped and supported mothers.
Mother of three, Sameemah Jacobs, 37, from Tafelsig, was arrested for Imaad’s kidnapping and is appearing at the Bellville Magistrate's Court.
During evidence led in her bail application last week, Serious and Violent Crime police officer, Sergeant Dawid Fortuin said Jacobs had previously suffered a miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy.
In a shocking twist, Fortuin said a witness claimed Jacobs said she did not kidnap Imaad and that his mother, whom she had showered with takkies and money, had given her the infant
Durian an interview with the Cape Argus, Julies, who was part of the Mitchell’s Plain Missing Persons Unit for a decade and is now the public relations officer for the Lentegeur Community Policing Forum (CPF), Charles Community Protection Monitors, and Neighbourhood Watch, described how he managed to rescue two babies, 16 years ago.
“This recent cases reminded me of the baby boy we found in Mfuleni in 2009,” he said.
“The baby was missing for a month after he was abducted by the woman from Tygerberg Hospital and was in the hands of the Task Force at the time.
“I received a tip-off from a contact in Khayelisha.
“This woman had suffered a miscarriage and she pretended to be pregnant.
“She told her boyfriend that she was no longer going to give birth at Mowbray maternity hospital but at Mitchell's Plain Hospital.
“She went to Tygerberg Hospital and during shift changes and visiting times, she walked out of the hospital like the baby was hers.
“I received that tip off because someone in Khayelitsha received information that the kidnapper had left the baby with someone as she was planning to leave for the Eastern Cape with the infant.
“The woman wanted to change the baby’s nappy and saw that it was not a girl but a boy.
“When we arrived at the house she said it was her baby.”
Julies said he was keen to meet the baby that he rescued who is now 16 years old.
In a separate case that same year, an infant was kidnapped from a taxi rank from a young mother and the police's investigation led them to Johannesburg as she had boarded a bus with the infant.
“The baby was to receive his immunization when the kidnapper approached the lady at the clinic and said her baby was still in the incubator and that she could show the mother how to swaddle (wrap) the baby.
“The woman had walked with the mother to the taxi rank and when she went to purchase food and cooldrink she disappeared with the baby.”
Former cop Charles Julies shares his experiences in infant kidnapping cases
Image: File
Julies said as a team they traced the woman to Johannesburg where she was caught and arrested.