Man Arrested After Allegedly Sneaking Into Hospital To Bottle-Feed A Stranger’s Baby & Leave
What was his motive?
pz71 / Shutterstock / Polk County Jail Having children changes people. It completely changes the parents’ perception of the world and the idea that the dangers and evils of the world could ever affect their child is unthinkable.
However, some of those dangers are not even things parents could anticipate or prepare for.
One such thing happened recently at an Iowa hospital where a man allegedly posed as a father to go visit a newborn that wasn't his own child.
An Iowa man was arrested for trespassing in a hospital and feeding a stranger's baby.
According to Des Moines police, Adam Wedig snuck into the MercyOne neo-natal intensive care unit by claiming to be the child’s father.
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The incident took place on December 28th, 2021.
Adam Wedig appears to have no relation to the child or the parents.
Upon gaining access to the child, Wedig was permitted by the hospital to bottle-feed the child. Notably, Wedig did not harm the child nor show any intent to do anything but bottle-feed them.
Police released a statement after arresting Wedig, stating, “Detectives did determine that there was no intent to cause the infant harm.”
Prior to Wedig's arrest, Police Sergeant Paul Parizek discussed the strange nature of the crime.
“This is definitely something new to all of us. When we think about child-stealing or predators, this is not how they behave or at least how we’re familiar with them behaving. In this case, there was absolutely no harm done to the child and, on the surface, no intent to commit any other crime beyond what he did to get in there," Parizek said.
Irregardless of Wedig's intentions or actions, the fact that it was possible for Wedig to pose as a child's father without presenting identification and reach the infant is extremely concering.
Police very described the confusing and disquieting situation as “unsettling.”
Police arrested 36-year-old Wedig on two counts of criminal trespassing. Police do not know what Wedig’s motivations might have been.
People are, understandably, unnerved that such a thing could possibly happen, especially when looking at the story through the lens of the child’s parents.
MercyOne has come under fire and has already implemented changes in their security and is working with Des Moines police following the incident.
“MercyOne takes the safety and security of our patients and families very seriously. The incident that took place last month is extremely troubling," the hospital shared in a statement.
"We are actively cooperating with the Des Moines Police Department on this ongoing investigation and have conducted an internal investigation into the matter, which prompted several changes to our policies and protocols to expand our security and prevent this from occurring in the future.”
Police have since stated that Wedig was also in trouble for an unspecified parole violation, indicating that Wedig does have a prior criminal record.
Dan O'Reilly is a writer who covers news, politics, and social justice. Follow him on Twitter.