October 14, 2014 - 3:04 PM
TROIS-RIVIERES, Que. - A 21-year-old Quebec woman was sentenced to prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to kidnapping a newborn from a maternity award.
The Crown and defence agreed to a 31-month sentence for Valerie Poulin Collins. With time already spent in detention, she has two years less a day to serve in a provincial prison.
She also pleaded guilty to several other charges including shoplifting and possession of methamphetamines.
Poulin Collins appeared in the hospital room of Melissa McMahon, the infant's mother, on May 26 posing as a nurse.
She took baby Victoria away, saying she was going to weigh her.
The child was 16 hours old.
Police arrested Poulin Collins outside her home in Trois-Rivieres about three hours after the baby was taken.
Officers were able to find Poulin Collins with the help of locals who recognized her fom a surveillance video image sent out with an Amber Alert.
The child was returned to her parents unharmed.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014