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Family Clueless On Why Baby Was Taken

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By KATIE CORONADO and JOSH POLTILOVE

kcoronado@wfla.com jpoltilove@tampatrib.com

Published: March 27, 2009

Updated: 03/27/2009 12:46 am

PLANT CITY - Three days after his 2-month-old baby was taken by a woman who he said was impersonating an immigration official, Andres Cruz said he still did not have a clue why someone would have done that. "We haven't done anything to anyone or owe anything," he said Thursday. "Why would anyone harm us?"

His daughter was taken Monday. On Tuesday, investigators found the baby uninjured. The woman accused of taking her, 43-year-old Amalia Tabata Pereira, was charged with false imprisonment, interference with child custody and impersonating a social service worker.

Cruz and the child's mother, Rosa Sirilo-Francisco, said Pereira lied to them to get them to hand over their child. The woman said immigration officers were waiting to deport Sirilo-Francisco's family to Mexico and that she wanted to help the couple but had to take baby Sandra Cruz-Francisco with her, Sirilo-Francisco said.

Cruz said he was scared when the woman asked for his baby. But he said Thursday that he didn't know to ask the woman for identification and didn't want to call police while his co-workers were around.

In their first interview since their child was recovered, Cruz and Sirilo-Francisco spoke from their Plant City home. Cruz said they were cooperating with law enforcement.

Their baby was born in Tampa, Cruz said. But Cruz said he and Sirilo-Francisco do not have proper documentation to be in the United States.

He and Sirilo-Francisco are from Hidalgo, Mexico, and plan to get married here or in Mexico. They don't speak English and said they waited to report the child's disappearance to law enforcement until a bilingual neighbor went with them to Plant City police.

Cruz said he and Sirilo-Francisco came to the United States to earn a living. He picks strawberries at a farm. Sirilo-Francisco stays home with the baby.

Asked if he has a message for Pereira, Cruz said, "Why did she do this? I don't owe her anything. If she gets out of jail, I hope that she doesn't do this to anybody else."

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has launched an investigation into Monday's incident. ICE spokesman Ivan L. Ortiz-Delgado declined to comment Thursday.

Cruz said he wants migrants to know that regardless of legal status in this country, people need to report crimes.

Asked if he was worried he and Sirilo-Francisco would be deported because they came forward about their missing child, Cruz said, "I don't have anything to fight with the law. If we're asked to leave, we'll leave."

Immigration officials say victims of crimes such as false imprisonment could apply for a visa that would last up to four years.

Meanwhile, Pereira had her first Hillsborough County court appearance on the charges Thursday. A judge ordered her bail to remain at $750,000. That's the amount a Manatee County judge set on Wednesday before Pereira was transferred to Orient Road Jail.

The baby was taken hours after an initial conversation between Sirilo-Francisco and Pereira inside the Plant City Health Department, where Sirilo-Francisco took her for a routine checkup.
Pereira turned herself in to Manatee County deputies near her Bradenton home Tuesday, more than 24 hours after the baby was taken.

This isn't Pereira's first legal issue. About eight years ago, Pereira was convicted of arson, grand theft and forgery and spent two years and nine months in prison.
Pereira married Pittsburgh Pirates minor-league player Jose Tabata in January 2008. According to a Pirates spokesman, Tabata, 20, was given a few days off after the arrest because he is "distraught, confused and frustrated."

Centro Mi Diario reporter Miriam Warren contributed to this report.

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