The ex-husband of a woman who police say plotted to drug a mother and steal her infant daughter said he’s angry his 16-year-old daughter could face charges for an alleged plot to kidnap an infant by posing as a baby photographer.
“I’m extremely angry and hurt that my daughter’s caught up in this,” said Daniel Gaines.
Gaines was married to Juliette Parker until their divorce in 2004. Pierce County Sheriff’s investigators said after moving to Spanaway from Colorado, Parker claimed on Facebook that she was a photographer looking to expand her portfolio so and was offering free photo shoots of infants. Detectives say on February 5, Parker drugged a woman who agreed to have pictures taken using a cupcake laced with a powerful sedative, but the woman felt the effects of the drug and told Parker to leave then called 911 to report what happened.
Investigators said the teenager daughter was a willing accomplice.
“Her daughter, a 16-year-old, is a suspect in the case and we believe she had full knowledge of what was going on,” said Pierce County Sheriff’s detective Ed Troyer.
“If she was a knowing participant she needs to suffer the consequences as well,” said Gaines. “I mean that’s just the way the world works.”
Gaines said he believes Parker was capable of the plot.
“Juliette is, she’s a very clever cunning individual. She’s fairly intelligent and she’s insanely manipulative,” said Gaines.
Victoria Morris told CBS News Parker was supposed to be in the delivery room with her but was arrested the day she gave birth.
“I do think this should be a warning to other moms,” said Morris. “It makes me anxious to know that people like that can be so manipulative and really working their way into your life and it’s so easy to get caught up in it.”
Parker posted bail and was released from the Pierce County Jail on Sunday and is expected to appear in court Tuesday. Her daughter was release from Remann Hall in Tacoma and is now in her mother’s custody, according to Troyer.