AG CHARGES AUGUSTA WOMAN OVER CONCEALMENT & DISPOSAL OF REMAINS OF FETUS OVER 20 WEEKS OF GESTATION

October 26, 2001

OCTOBER 26, 2001

CONTACT: Bill Stokes, Assistant Attorney General - Criminal Division Chief 207-626-8800

The Attorney General's Office has filed a complaint in Maine District Court in Augusta alleging that Ann Sanborn of Augusta violated the health statutes by failing to notify authorities of the death of a fetus over 20 weeks of gestation. The offense is a Class E crime punishable by no more than 6 months in jail and a maximum $1,000 fine.

The charge follows the August 23 discovery of the fetal remains in a garbage bag hidden in the upstairs crawlspace of a Windsor home where Sanborn had stayed. The remains had decomposed considerably, and scientific tests were unable to determine whether the fetus had been born alive. Tests were, however, able to determine conclusively that the fetus was over 20 weeks of gestation, after which age a person has a duty to report the fetal death to authorities within fourteen days of the delivery.

Assistant Attorney General Bill Stokes, Chief of the Criminal Division of the AG's Office, said, "A still birth at this stage of pregnancy is tragic and sad, and it carries duties that were not observed here."