NH woman charged with posing as baby's mom appears in court

SALEM, N.H.—A Pelham, New Hampshire, woman charged with posing as the mother of a child she was hired to baby-sit and then hiring others to care for him has appeared in court.

Twenty-one-year-old Jessica Provencal has been charged with 26 counts of kidnapping and 26 counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Some of the counts were misdemeanors, to which she pleaded not guilty; she is not able to enter a plea to the felonies.

Police said that beginning in December, she agreed to baby-sit for a Pelham family, but instead of watching the 8-month-old boy, she left him with at least three other people.

Police say they've interviewed about six other people that were on an Internet site that responded to her request for a childcare provider.

Police said a woman who knew Provencal called them after she learned that Provencal said she was a mother, but had never been pregnant. Investigators said she admitted to placing the ads and posing as the child's mother, but they're still not sure why.

Provencal is free on bail and is scheduled to return to court on July 2 for a hearing.

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Information from: WMUR-TV, http://www.thewmurchannel.com/index.html