Why Aunt Stole 6 Day-Old Baby

Newborn left outside in sub-zero weather

Now that we can all celebrate the fact that six day old Kayden Powell has been found alive and well, I am still haunted by one question.  Why did the baby's aunt, thirty-one year old Kristen Smith steal the newborn in the first place?  Was the woman mentally retarded, psychotic or just plain evil?  Why didn't she save herself the possibility of a life sentence in prison by getting pregnant herself?  Or if she had problems attracting guys, why didn't she lure some fellow off the street or off a bar stool, or for that matter sign up with a sperm bank?   With this question of "why" roiling around in my head, I decided to find out what criminologists have to say about such cases.  Of course the truth in this instance will undoubtedly unfold at Kristen Smith's trial.  But these are some of the points the experts make about such kidnappings. 

These women are usually sane, but narcissistic and highly calculating.  A 2011 article on the CNN Health website noted:

In these types of cases when a woman snatches a baby, the typical perpetrator is not motivated by maternal envy or a burning desire for motherhood. It's usually her desire to hang on to a boyfriend or husband in a deteriorating relationship. . .  To do that, she feels she must produce a baby.

Kristen  Smith

Contrary to what we might assume, infertility seldom drives this crime. The desperation of such women emanates from the fact that they are struggling to meet a certain timetable. Having lied to a boyfriend or husband about the pregnancy, "she has to produce a baby on cue," explains John Rabun who heads the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. 

The woman arrested in this Wisconsin case was found with a prosthetic pregnancy belt in her car. and had already announced on her Facebook page that she had just given birth.  It will be interesting to see, as the story unfolds, whether or not she was trying to hold onto a boyfriend with lies about having "his" baby. 

But whatever this case, I hope this woman  gets life in prison. Actually my preference would be that while being transported to the facility, the prison guards drop her off in a secluded spot and leave her to shiver in sub-zero weather for 29 hours, which was the amount of time she left that newborn outside in the snow.