WEST BOCA, Fla. _ The mother accused of abandoning her newborn girl in a West Boca dumpster will be kept in jail without bond, a judge ruled Friday morning.
Rafaelle Allessandra Carbalho Sousa, 35, has admitted "placing her in a bag and throwing her in the dumpster," the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said early Friday. But workers at an apartment complex found the child alive Wednesday after hearing cries coming from a dumpster.
At Sousa's initial court appearance, Circuit Judge Ted Booras ordered Sousa held without bond on charges of attempted felony murder and aggravated child abuse. "She is not allowed to have contact with the minor child, the victim in this case," Booras said.
A Portuguese interpreter translated the judge's instructions.
The abandoned newborn girl weighed in at nearly seven pounds and was safe in state care Thursday, the day after two workers found her near a dumpster at an apartment complex west of Boca Raton, authorities said.
After she was evaluated at a nearby hospital, the 6-pound, 8-ounce baby was turned over to the care of the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Nick Silverio, founder of A Safe Haven for Newborns, wishes the child's parents had taken advantage of a state law that allows parents to relinquish unharmed newborns, no older than a week, at a fire station or hospital emergency room without fear of prosecution or child abandonment.
In Florida, 302 newborns have been surrendered under the Safe Haven Law, which has been in effect since 2000.
So far this year, six infants have been relinquished under the law.
The child found Wednesday was the first Florida baby in 2019 to be abandoned somewhere other than a fire station or emergency room, Silverio said.
In court Friday, a judge also ordered that Sousa also must not have any contact with the baby's father. The public defender's office has been assigned to represent Sousa. Booras said an immigration hold has been put in place by the federal government.
