Woman charged with child abuse in Norfolk speaks out

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A woman charged with felony child abuse after being accused of taking her own baby from Children's Hospital of the Kings Daughters in Norfolk is speaking out from jail.

Woman charged in connection with infant removed from Norfolk CHKD

Stephanie Campbell is behind bars, without bond, at the Norfolk City Jail. Police say that Sunday night, they got a call that she removed her infant son from the hospital.

Campbell, who also goes by Stephanie Wallace, said she only concerned with the welfare of her son.

"I just want to be with him so bad," Campbell said. "I just want to hold him and love on him. That was the worst part of that night. Like, so much happened that night. That was awful in a horrible way just not being able to be with him."

Neither police nor CHKD would elaborate on the specifics of the case. However, hospital administrators sent a statement to 10 On Your Side, saying that "CHKD has several levels of security to protect patients, beginning with limiting visitors to parents/legal guardians — who have a legal right to be with their child and a short list of parent-approved visitors. In rare instances, parents may decide to remove their child from the hospital. If removing a child from the hospital puts that child's health at risk, CHKD is legally obligated to contact appropriate authorities to safeguard the well-being of the child."

Norfolk Police responded to CHKD Sunday night in reference to an infant who had been removed from the hospital, located at 601 Childrens Lane, around 10:50 p.m. The child was returned to the hospital a short time later after being located in Chesapeake.