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Social Worker Impostor in Hospital

March 18, 2015 permalink

There have been many instances of fake social workers trying to enter homes to kidnap babies, but in Oregon Celeste Kathleen Patton tried to impersonate a social worker in a hospital.

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Woman allegedly tried to kidnap baby from Medford hospital

Celeste Kathleen Patton

Medford police have arrested a Jackson County woman who they say falsely represented herself as a child welfare worker in an attempt to kidnap a child last week.

Celeste Kathleen Patton, 39, of Central Point, was in the Jackson County Jail Monday on charges of second-degree attempted kidnapping and criminal impersonation, jail records show. Her bail has been set at $25,000.

A woman who officers later identified as Patton went to Providence Medford Medical Center's Birthplace Wednesday and claimed to be a Department of Human Services employee. She tried to gain access to the birth center to take a child, even mentioning a specific name, authorities said.

"We don't even know if that was a child that was actually there," Medford police Detective Sgt. Brent Mak said.

Providence staff did not allow Patton into the birth center and called security, but she had fled by the time guards arrived. A release on the Medford police website says the hospital reported the incident to the agency.

At 7 p.m. Sunday, police responded to a report of disorderly conduct at a Medford Jack in the Box, 2002 Highway 99. The call was about an "uncooperative" woman who was in possible mental distress, Mak said. She was taken to Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center, where she was later identified as the attempted kidnapping suspect from Wednesday and arrested.

Patton was previously arrested in February 2013 on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after her vehicle crashed into a light pole on McAndrews Road.

Source: Medford Tribune Daily

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