A Danish woman jailed by New York police 20 years ago for leaving her baby in a stroller outside a restaurant while she was dining inside is speaking out on Saturday.
Anette Sørensen was a 30-year-old aspiring actress who returned to New York City in May 1997 from Copenhagen.
She met up with Exavier Wardlaw, the biological father of her then-14-month-old daughter, Liv.
According to the New York Post, the couple decided to grab a drink at Dallas BBQ in Manhattan’s East Village.
Sørensen decided to leave Liv and her baby stroller outside the restaurant while she and Wardlaw were inside while keeping an eye on her from the window.
She says she was doing what any normal parents would have done in her native Denmark, where babies in strollers are left on sidewalks while their mothers and fathers shop and dine indoors.
A Danish woman jailed by New York police 20 years ago for leaving her baby in a stroller outside a restaurant is speaking out on Saturday. The woman, Anette Sørensen (right), is seen with her daughter, Liv, 21, who was just 14 months old at the time of the incident
Sørensen was a 30-year-old aspiring actress who returned to New York City in May 1997 from Copenhagen. She met up with Exavier Wardlaw, the biological father of her then-14-month-old daughter, Liv (seen here in May 1997)
The couple decided to grab a drink at Dallas BBQ in Manhattan’s East Village (above). Sørensen decided to leave Liv and her baby stroller outside the restaurant while she and Wardlaw were inside while keeping an eye on her from the window
After servers and diners complained about the baby being left outside, police arrived and arrested Sørensen and Wardlaw (seen far right) for child endangerment
‘I had lived in New York [during school], so, of course, I knew that I didn’t see prams all over the city,’ said Sørensen.
‘But…I had been living in Copenhagen, I had given birth to my daughter in Copenhagen, I was raised myself in Denmark…That’s just how you do it in Denmark.’
Diners and servers at the restaurant noticed the baby was outside and asked the couple to bring her in, but Sørensen and Wardlaw declined.
While witnesses at the time told the press that the baby was crying, Sørensen insists that Liv was comfortably asleep in her stroller.
The charges against her were eventually dropped on condition that she leave the United States
Nonetheless, someone called 911 and the police showed up.
‘The first time she woke up was when the officer took her out of the pram,’ Sorensen told the Post.
Sørensen said that the two police officers who initially arrived were going to allow her to leave with Liv.
But then a third officer arrived and things changed.
‘I said, “I’m leaving now,” and he said, “No, you’re not: You’re arrested”,’ she said.
‘It was unreal . . . I did not break any kind of law. I never, ever thought this could happen.’
The NYPD booked Sørensen and Wardlaw for child endangerment and disorderly conduct.
She was placed in jail for 36 hours, while her daughter was put in foster care by the city’s welfare services.
‘I didn’t know where my child was,’ said Sørensen.
‘I don’t think there’s any greater punishment than to have your child taken away from you.’
Four days after she was arrested, Sørensen was finally reunited with Liv.
She remained in New York for a few more weeks because of summonses to civil and criminal court.
Charges against Sørensen were eventually dropped after she agreed to leave the United States.
The case made front-page news and generated headlines in the local press, which Sørensen says treated her unfairly.
While the local media in America treated her as a negligent parent, the Danish press rose to her defense.
‘For every Dane it was a nightmare because we are used to living like that,’ said Sørensen.
The case made front-page news and generated headlines in the local press, which Sørensen says treated her unfairly. While the local media in America treated her as a negligent parent, the Danish press rose to her defense
In 2012, Sørensen wrote a book about her experiences. She now wants to translate it into English, and she has launched a Kickstarter fund toward that end.
The book, titled A Worm in the Apple, recounts the ‘traumatizing’ experience.
‘It’s a way of getting back what I never got,’ said Sørensen.
‘I would like [it] if I could just say what I think.’
A year after the ordeal, she sued the city for $20million. She was awarded $66,400 by a civil jury, which found only that she should not have been strip-searched and that the city commonly failed to advise arrested foreigners of their right to notify their consulates.
Sørensen now says she wants to show the American public that the Danish system of parenting is healthier.
‘People live in fear [in the US]. Children are not allowed to play in the playground alone,’ said Sørensen.
‘That’s why it’s important for me now to get [my book] into English, to show it’s possible to live another way.’
Sørensen now lives in Hamburg, Germany with her husband, Mike, and their two teenage children.
Liv, the baby in the stroller, is a 21-year-old woman living in Copenhagen, where she is studying design.
Sørensen could certainly relate to Louise Fielden.
In April 2015, Fielden, a British police officer from London, was visiting New York City as a tourist with her 14-month-old son.
Fielden was arrested for leaving her son alone in their hotel room for over an hour.
She was accused of leaving him alone in the hotel room unattended for 30 minutes while she went to sterilize his bottles in hot water.
A hotel attendant notified police, and Fielden was arrested and charged with child endangerment. City officials placed her son into foster care.
After months of legal haggling, Fielden was eventually cleared of all criminal charges. She subsequently moved forward with plans to sue the city.
‘In my culture and society . . . this behavior of leaving a child for a short period of time is normal and acceptable,’ Fielden said in an affidavit.