Roberta Bell, who worked as a guard at a prison before she was fired for breaking the rules and taking in an inmate's newborn baby, claims that she does not have any regrets about her decision because she firmly believes that she did what was right.
Roberta Bell, a corrections officer in Mississippi, was terminated from her position after she became the primary carer for the newborn child of an inmate.
A lady who had previously worked as a prison guard was terminated when she offered to look after an inmate's newborn child while the mother served out the remainder of her sentence for a crime she had committed.
The fact that Roberta Bell, age 58, offered to look after Katie Bourgeois' child in violation of the terms of her employment led to her termination from the company. According to The Washington Post, Roberta has told people that she is not going to change her mind about the choice she made and that she does not have any regrets.
Katie, who was 30 years old and serving time at the Louisiana Transition Centre for Women for drug charges when she discovered she was pregnant, found herself filled with anxiety about the future of her unborn child. Midway through the month of May, around seven weeks before her scheduled delivery in July, she was due.
She had no one else to turn to for help, so she confided in her fellow convicts, who all spoke highly of Officer Roberta Bell's kind attitude.
Over the course of more than three years, Roberta Bell was an employee at the Louisiana Transitional Centre for Women in Tallulah, Louisiana.
When Roberta found out about Katie's plight, she didn't waste any time in approaching her and making a caretaking offer for the infant. Katie didn't waste any time in agreeing to the terms of the offer since she didn't want her child to be taken into the care of Child Protective Services.
In spite of the fact that it was against the rules for Roberta to provide an inmate her personal contact information, she did it because she thought it was the right thing to do.
"I knew that God wanted me to follow my heart, and I knew that I couldn't allow a baby to go to protective services when Katie really wanted that child," she said. "I knew that God wanted me to follow my heart."
Roberta shared her plan with her manager in the hopes of receiving authorization to carry out the act of kindness she had planned. On the other hand, she heard nothing in return.
Katie Bourgeois, who was currently incarcerated, was looking for a carer desperately because she was due to give birth to her first child in a matter of months.
On May 16, when Katie went into labour, Roberta was invited into a meeting with facility managers. During the meeting, the administrators confronted her about the infraction, and as a result, Roberta was sacked from her employment.
She did not let this deter her from keeping her word and stated that she would go to the hospital and pick up the child if she was contacted about it.
"I was aware that it would be seen as a conflict of interest, but I am a woman of my word," stated Roberta, who had worked at the institution for about four years at the time of the conversation. I wished to get the most favourable outcome possible for Katie and her unborn child.
"So many of [the women in prison] have been used and abused and have had hard lives on the streets," she said. "So many of [the women in prison] have been used and abused." I discovered that if I showed them even a small amount of affection, it would go a very long way. I got the impression that Katie was a decent human being who had simply messed up her life by making poor decisions.
Katie gave birth to a baby boy on May 17 and called him Kayson. Both mother and child are doing well. After Katie was arrested and taken back to jail, Roberta was given permission to retrieve the newborn child from the hospital. She finished the required papers, got the kid, and then welcomed him into her house, where she provided him with all he required.
Roberta remarked that she considers herself privileged to have been a part of something greater than the work that she does.
Katie was picked up by Roberta and her newborn boy on the day that she was released from jail on July 4 after having served the entirety of her term.
At the moment, Katie and Kayson are staying with Roberta in Vicksburg, Mississippi, until Katie can find job and establish her independence. Katie's goal is to become a hairstylist, and she has high aspirations of achieving this goal.
Roberta has a fantasy of opening a group home for formerly incarcerated women who are currently homeless and have nowhere else to go.
Katie conveyed her thanks by thinking back on the entire event and asking, "How can I thank this woman? She is an unknown person who has shown a great deal of love. If it weren't for this angel, I had no idea what I would have done in that situation. I feel like I've met a buddy forever in Miss Bell."
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