Pinay accused of infanticide wanted to keep baby

District Court

SHE did not abort her baby.

Aileen Grado, 37, was originally charged with infanticide in Tsuen Wan court in April 2016, but a medical report on the case revealed there was no sign the baby boy she gave birth to in the flat of her employer in Tsuen Wan was harmed or asphyxiated.

Grado on May 4 pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of preventing lawful burial of body.

District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin sentenced Grado to 18 months in prison, but reduced it to 12 months owing to her guilty plea.

Grado, who was seen wiping tears from her eyes after the court proceedings, has been in jail since April 2016 or more than a year, which meant she has been jailed longer than the  sentence imposed on her  on the day she appeared in the District Court.

In mitigation, Grado’s lawyer told the court that besides pleading guilty at the earliest stage, the defendant confessed to authorities by seeking the assistance of the Philippine Consulate on April 11 or about 20 days after giving birth to the boy.

The consulate then accompanied her to the police,  and Grado was arrested.

It was disclosed that Grado, who has an eight-year-old daughter in the Philippines, found out she was pregnant in September 2015 but did not inform her employer for fear of losing her job.

At about 3 a.m. of March 21, 2016, Grado gave birth to a baby boy, but the infant soon afterwards stopped crying and breathing.

The domestic helper then tried to revive the boy, but to no avail.

Confused and scared, she then wrapped the infants body in some cloth, diapers, and plastic bag, and the following day took his body to a nearby mall and disposed of it in a public toilet.

On Apr. 4, the remains of the baby were discovered owing to the foul smell that emitted from the toilet.

Prosecutor Andrew Rafell told the court the police would have no way of identifying the defendant as the woman who dumped the baby into the toilet as the CCTV footage retrieved from the mall was not clear.

“It was likely that the defendant would not have been arrested [if she had not confessed to the consulate],” Raffell said.

Teddy Lam, Grado’s lawyer, said the defendant wanted to keep the baby, but did not know what to do when she unexpectedly gave birth. He added the Filipina’s former employer submitted letters, which spoke highly of her.

Grado first came to Hong Kong in 2012 and previously had a clear record. She used to remit some $2,000 monthly to her daughter and her father and mother, who are both farmers, in the Philippines.

In giving his sentence, Judge Kwok said dignity should be given to the body of the deceased, no matter who they were.

However, Judge Kwowk said it was obvious from the actions of the defendant that she did not have an elaborate plan for the body’s disposal, and that she did not mutilate it.