By: Associated Press//August 17, 2011//
APPLETON, Wis. (AP) — A 17-year-old Appleton girl is pleading not guilty to child abandonment and child neglect after being charged with leaving her newborn daughter behind a Kimberly church in May.
The Post-Crescent reports Nadia Zahirudin entered her plea on Wednesday in Outagamie County court. She told investigators that she hid her pregnancy from her friends and family — and the baby’s father — before giving birth at home.
Authorities claim the baby’s father left the child behind the church after first traveling to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton where he had planned to leave the child, but got too scared.
The father, 18-year-old Ben LaMarche, has also pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled for Sept. 14.
Zahirudin’s trial is likely to begin in November.
Information from: The Post-Crescent, http://www.postcrescent.com