Woman wanted for assault for reportedly giving 3 babies skin-to-skin contact in Surrey hospital

Surrey police are hoping that the public can help them find a woman who is wanted in connection with an assault.

Police said that at 6:55 a.m. on Oct. 28, a woman went into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Surrey Memorial Hospital, allegedly removed her shirt and held three infants, giving them skin-to-skin contact.

None of the infants were injured, police said, but hospital security removed the woman from the property.

Police were notified at 1 p.m. that day but have been unable to find the woman.

“Honestly, it’s a very traumatic incident for the parents of the children, obviously,” Sgt. Tige Pollock with the Surrey Police Service said.

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“And doing something like this is something that could further traumatize the families. And so we were trying to identify the female through other means with our community contacts and increased patrols in that area, and so far we haven’t been able to identify her. So that’s why, at this time, we’ve chosen to release her photo.”

She is described as being between 30 to 40 years old and five feet two inches tall.

She was last seen wearing a black hoodie with white “Essentials Department” on the chest, dirty grey sweatpants, cream-coloured sandals, black socks, and carrying a camouflage jacket.

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Police said this is an assault file because “the application of force to any person without their consent is an assault. So the act of picking up the babies would, in effect, be an assault,” Pollock said.

“If anybody recognizes this female please contact us,” he added.

“We’re looking to speak with her and and obviously, it’s a serious incident anytime vulnerable populations are targeted. It’s very disturbing for police and there’s nothing more vulnerable than a newborn child, so we’d like to locate this female.”

Anyone with information about the identity of the suspect is asked to contact the Surrey police non-emergency line at 604-599-0502 and quote file number 25-94777 (SP).

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