Article 153. Substitution of a child

For many, switching children in a maternity hospital looks like the plot of a detective novel. However, as it turns out, among women preparing to become mothers, this fear is still very common.

Almost every third woman thinks that someone else’s child could be given to her. Russian legislation even has an article providing for punishment for carrying out this kind of substitution. The offender, no less, faces criminal liability.

What the law says

The content of Article 153 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation itself is extremely short, so it is necessary to refer to the comments that are offered for this norm of legislation.

The document regulates liability for the substitution of children, which was committed with selfish or other base intentions.
Such selfish goals can be expressed in:

Trying to take revenge for something.
The desire to replace a child with health problems with an ordinary one.
Implementation of plans of extremists or nationalists.
Act of jealousy (ex-husband has a new wife).
In the manifestation of vile feelings of a different nature.

It is worth noting that the substitution of a child committed without selfish intentions will not be considered in this article.

The point of this article is that receiving someone else’s child instead of your own, in any case, will be a heavy blow for the family. Since the family is considered the main unit of society, this crime will be regarded as a violation of public safety.

Moreover, such an act can entail extremely unpleasant consequences for the child himself and for his parents and immediate relatives.

The Code qualifies this crime as an unlawful act of moderate gravity.

A film based on real events - "The Changeling".

The drama "The Changeling", 2008, about the events that occurred in 1928.
Director: Clint Eastwood. In 2008, the American film “Changeling” was released, directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Joseph Michael Straczynski. The Changeling premiered at the 61st Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2008.

Clint Eastwood with his wife Dina (now ex), Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at the premiere of the film "The Changeling" in Cannes

Critical response was generally favorable. Translated from English, the word “changeling”, which gives the film its title, means the child of a magical creature - an elf, troll or fairy - which they leave in return for a kidnapped human child. The film was released in some cinemas under the title "Nomad". Hilary Swank and Reese Witherspoon were considered for the role of Christine Collins.

It is noteworthy that not a single costume was made for filming - they were bought in vintage clothing stores across America; in total, more than 1000 outfits were purchased, as well as 150 vintage cars and even 1 working tram of that time. Los Angeles in the 1920s was created on a computer.

Director Clint Eastwood and Angelina Jolie on the set of the film “The Changeling”
And after the end of filming, director Clint Eastwood “invited” the entire film crew to the 18th room of the psychiatric hospital (the same one where patients were given electric shocks).

The film was nominated for many awards in various categories (for best cinematography, director, etc.) in America, Europe and even Japan. But she was awarded only one award - the Saturn Award went to Jolie as best actress.

The action of the picture develops in

Los Angeles in the 20s of the last century. Having contacted the police about the disappearance of the child, the main character soon receives her son, but tells the police that, despite the resemblance, this is not her son. Instead of help, the unfortunate mother receives registration in the ward of a clinic for the insane...

The scariest thing about this film is that the story Eastwood tells is true.

In March 1928, a child, Walter Collins, nine years old, disappeared in the city of Los Angeles.

Walter Collins

His disappearance was the reason that the legislation in the city changed and more than one boss was replaced, one city was renamed, but all this happened more than two years later, although this story began two years earlier.

In 1926, Gordon Stewart Northcott, with the permission of his parents, took his 13-year-old nephew Sanford Wesley Clark from his home in Saskatchewan, Canada, and moved him to his ranch in Vineville in Riverside County, where he physically and sexually abused the teenager.

Photo of Northcott Farm

Gordon forced Sanford to write letters home, telling him that he was doing well. Sanford's older sister, 19-year-old Jessie Clark, was suspicious of her brother's overly rosy letters in which he reported that he was feeling well at his uncle's ranch, so she came there in 1928 to stay for a few days. Although Jessie didn't really notice anything, she was very frightened by Northcott's behavior, and one night Sanford managed to secretly inform her about what was happening at the ranch. Jessie told authorities what her brother told her. After this, the Los Angeles police arrived at Northcott's ranch. Police arrested Sanford because Jessie said her brother had been smuggled across the Canadian border. Unexpectedly, Sanford revealed that Gordon Northcott had kidnapped and killed three little boys with the complicity of his mother (Sanford's grandmother) Sarah Louise Northcott, and also forced Sanford to participate in this by force and threats.

Gordon Norcott

Northcott forced him to watch and take part in the murder of children. Northcott kidnapped or lured boys, raped them, and after "entertainment" took them to an incubator to supposedly show how the chicks hatched.

The same Wineville chicken coop

Sanford said quicklime was used to destroy the bodies and the remains were buried on the ranch property. The police found the burials exactly where Sanford indicated, but there were no bodies in them, since Northcott, having learned that the boy had been arrested and the police were looking for him, dug up the remains in advance and took them to the desert, where they finally decomposed.

Detectives dig up bodies of murdered children

However, blood, hair and bone particles were found in the burials. During a search of the ranch, axes with blood stains were also found. Gordon Northcott himself fled with his mother to Canada, where he was arrested near Vernon.

Gordon Northcott

Two of the murdered boys were identified as Lewis and Nelson Winslow (10 and 12 years old, respectively), who went missing in Pomona on May 16, 1928. The third boy was believed to be 9-year-old Walter Collins. According to Sanford, in addition to these three murders, Northcott committed the murder of a Mexican boy (who was never identified and was therefore listed in the case file as the "Headless Mexican"), but without the involvement of Sanford or Sarah Northcott. Gordon only forced Sanford to behead the already dead body and burn the head in an oven, and then crush the skull. Later, during the investigation, Gordon admitted that, unable to find another suitable place, he left the headless body near the road near La Puento. Gordon Northcott claimed that he kidnapped several boys and raped them on his ranch. As a rule, after this he took the children home and sometimes even allowed them to leave on their own, taking advantage of the fact that all the boys were abducted by him from different places (never from the same place twice) and had not known him before.

Detectives conduct an investigative experiment

There were rumors that Northcott "rented" his victims from wealthy Southern California pedophiles, but no evidence of this was ever found. It is generally believed that the unidentified Mexican teenager was Northcott's first murdered victim. His second victim was believed to be 9-year-old Walter Collins. Canadian police arrested Gordon Stewart Northcott and his mother on September 19, 1928, but due to paperwork errors they were not deported to Los Angeles until November 30. Sarah Louise Northcott initially confessed to killing Collins but later recanted, as did Gordon, who had previously confessed to killing more than five children but then began to recant. Gordon's father, Keir George Northcott, also admitted to police two days later that his son committed the murders and his mother knew about it.

Sarah Louise Northcott

As a result, Sarah Northcott took responsibility for the murder of Walter Collins and was sentenced to life imprisonment on December 31, 1928. She served time at Tehachapi State Prison, where she was paroled after 12 years. During the sentencing, Sarah maintained that her son was innocent and made a number of strange statements regarding his parentage. In particular, she said that Gordon was actually the son of an English nobleman, that she was Gordon's grandmother, and that he himself was the result of incest between her husband George Cyrus Northcott and their daughter Winifred. She also stated that Gordon was sexually abused by everyone in his family as a child. From her testimony it followed that she herself actually led Gordon. According to her, when they arrived in Canada, Gordon was in such despair over what he had done that he was ready to confess everything to the carriage conductor. Sarah Louise Northcott died in 1944.

Although it was generally accepted that Gordon Northcott took part in the murder of Walter Collins, since his mother had already confessed and been sentenced for Walter's murder, the state prosecutor could not bring any charges against Gordon. Gordon's victims were believed to number 20, but the California State Police were unable to provide compelling evidence to support this theory, and the indictment against Gordon ultimately contained only the murders of an unidentified Mexican boy and the Winslow brothers.

When Gordon Northcott was deported from Canada to Riverside State Prison Hospital on December 7, 1928, and gave his first interview there, Christine Collins began to hope that her son might still be alive. At the trial, she asked Northcott if it was true that he killed her son, and in response she received a confession in which there was no logic, the truth was mixed with lies, from which Collins concluded that Northcott was insane.

Gordon Norcott

Since Northcott allegedly could not remember whether he had met Walter and could not remember whether he had killed him, Christine hoped that her son was still alive. In October 1930, Gordon Northcott sent a telegram to Christine Collins in which he claimed that he was lying when he said that her Walter was among his victims. Hours before Northcott was executed at San Quentin Prison, Collins became the first woman in more than thirty years to be allowed to visit the serial killer on the eve of his execution. He promised to tell her the truth if she came to him in person, but when she arrived, he began to avoid the meeting. “I don’t want to see you,” he said, “I don’t know anything about this, I’m not guilty.” According to the press, although Christine Collins was very offended by this, Northcott's words calmed her somewhat, as his ambiguous answers and refusal to remember details such as Walter's clothing or the color of his eyes strengthened her hope for her son's return. The mother of the Winslow brothers, like Christine Collins, also saw Northcott before his execution in order to get a final confession of their deaths from him, but also did not really achieve anything. The trial, presided over by Judge George R. Freeman, lasted 27 days and ended on February 8, 1929. Northcott was finally found guilty of the murder of an unidentified child and the murder of the Winslow brothers.

Trial of killer Gordon Northcott

On the day of Northcott's trial, Nelson Winslow Sr. led a crowd of supporters to the courthouse to lynch Northcott after the hearing. Police convinced him to disperse the crowd before Northcott was escorted from the building. On February 13, 1929, Gordon Northcott was sentenced to death by hanging. The execution took place on October 2, 1930 at San Quentin Prison.

Still from the film “The Changeling”

Seven years after Northcott's execution, press reports allegedly turned up a boy whom authorities believed to be one of Northcott's unfound victims. Although initial reports suggested that Northcott killed approximately 20 children, no evidence was found to support these claims. Sanford Clark said in his testimony that during his stay at the ranch there were only three boys there and none of them ran away. Police reports and killers' statements also indicate that only three boys were ever kept in the chicken coop on the Northcott ranch - Walter Collins, Lewis and Nelson Winslow, who were all killed. The murder of Walter Collins was known only from the words of Sanford Clark. A few days after Walter's kidnapping, Northcott received a call from his mother, Sarah Louise Northcott, who told him she was coming to the ranch for a few days. The journey took her about an hour. By the time Sarah arrived, Walter was locked in the chicken coop; however, due to previous incidents in their family, Sarah was well aware that her son was a pedophile, and therefore both the chicken coop itself and Gordon's request to stay away from the building seemed suspicious to her.

At some point, Sarah still discovered Walter. According to Sanford Clark's testimony, she told Gordon that Walter, if released, could incriminate him because Gordon once worked at the supermarket where Walter shopped for his mother, Christine Collins. Sarah asked how Gordon could be so stupid as to kidnap and rape a boy who had seen him before and could identify him. As it later turned out, Gordon took a liking to Walter Collins back in the supermarket. He even approached the boy and asked, “Would you like to go to my ranch and ride a pony?” This is known because Northcott later recalled in his testimony that the boy liked ponies.

Farm plan

Since Walter could indeed give Northcott away, Sarah told him that the boy knew too much and needed to be "silenced" immediately. Sanford Clark later testified that Sarah decided that the three of them should participate in the murder of Walter Collins together, because then no one would think of going to the police with a denunciation. Gordon Northcott suggested using a gun, but Sarah was afraid the noise would attract the neighbors. The murder weapon was finally chosen to be the blunt end of an ax handle, which was used while Walter was sleeping on a cot in the chicken coop. Gordon, Mrs. Northcott and Sanford Clark took turns striking Walter. They dealt with the Winslow brothers in a similar way.

Sanford Clark

Sanford Clark was never tried for these murders because Assistant District Attorney Loyal S. Kelly firmly believed that Sanford was an innocent victim acting under Gordon's threats and sexual assault, and that he was certainly not a willing participant in the crimes. Kelly managed to persuade Sanford to sign a contract to send him to the Whittier School for Boys, where an experimental program for juvenile delinquents was then in full swing. Kelly assured Sanford that the school would help him make a full recovery.

Still from the movie "Changeling" - interrogation of Sanford

Sanford Clark was contractually sentenced to five years at the school, but his sentence was later reduced to 23 months because, according to school officials, Sanford impressed them with his character, work skills, and personal desire to live a working life during his remaining years. three years. After graduation from school, Sanford's "punishment" imposed by the district attorney was considered completed, and so Sanford returned back to Canada, where for the rest of his life he adhered to the instructions of Kelly, who partingly admonished him to use this chance so that his rehabilitation would not be in vain. Overall, District Attorney Loyal S. Kelly, the Whittier School, his wife June, his son Jerry, and his sister Jessie helped him further fully recover from the physical and emotional trauma inflicted by Gordon Northcott. Sanford served in World War II and then worked for the Canadian Postal Service for 28 years. He married, and he and his wife June adopted and raised two boys. June and Sanford lived together for 55 years and were active members of various community organizations. Sanford Wesley Clark died in 1991 at the age of 78.

Walter Collins disappeared from his home in Los Angeles' Lincoln Heights neighborhood on March 10, 1928, after his mother, Christine Collins, a telephone operator, gave him ten cents to go to the local theater.

Christine Collins, Walter's mother

Initially, Christine and the police decided that the boy had been kidnapped by enemies of Walter Sr., who had eight armed robberies and was at that time in California's Folsom Prison. He worked in the prison cafe and reported on the violations of other prisoners, so he made many enemies. While working on this version, the police searched the surrounding lakes, but the boy’s body was never found.

There were witnesses with conflicting testimony. A gas station worker in Glendale reported seeing a dead boy wrapped in newspapers in the back seat of a car when the driver stopped to ask for directions. Other witnesses spoke of a couple traveling with a boy who was alive and begging to be released.

On May 16, 1928, while on their way home, ten-year-old and twelve-year-old brothers Nelson and Lewis Winslow disappeared without a trace.

Lewis and Nelson Winslow

Lewis, 12, and Nelson, 10, were the sons of Nelson G. Winslow Sr. The boys went missing in Pomona, California, on May 16, 1928, when they left home at half past six in the evening and went to the Sloyd Building, which they left sometime around eight. On May 19, the boys' father received a letter from them in which they informed him that they were going to Mexico in order to earn money by building yachts and airplanes (the letter was sent from Pomona). On May 28, Nelson Sr. received a letter from Lewis, which was sent from the nearby city of Corona. In the letter, the boy assured his father that they were having a good time, sleeping during the day and moving around at night, and that he did not need to worry about them, that they would remain missing until they became famous. The horror of these words turned out to be the cruel truth...

Although Northcott claimed that the Winslow boys were never on his farm and he did not kill them, it was proven that they were in fact present there: a charred page from an aviation magazine (the brothers were just interested in aviation), a uniform a Scout (Lewis Winslow was a Scout), a cap with a Pomona store tag (its owner recalled that he had sold the exact same cap to one of the Winslow brothers), and finally lime-eaten bones that were identified as the phalanges of a child whose age matched the brothers' ages. .

Police have not linked the two disappearances. There was also no connection between these disappearances and the headless body of a Mexican boy found in La Puente in February. A man's complaint about a neighbor who mistreats boys at his poultry farm has also not been contacted.

The disappearance of Walter Collins attracted national attention, but despite the Los Angeles Police Department devoting nearly a hundred officers to the case, the investigation made no progress. Five months after Walter's disappearance, when the Los Angeles public had already begun to actively criticize the city police and put public pressure on them, a boy suddenly appeared in DeKalb, Illinois, calling himself Walter Collins. Collins paid $70 to have the boy returned to Los Angeles. Illinois police contacted California police and sent photos of the boy. California authorities showed Christine Collins photographs allegedly of her son. She confidently stated that this was not her son.

Christine's reunion with the boy was organized by the Los Angeles police, who hoped to disavow all the negative comments that had been made about them while they were investigating the case. Police also hoped that the case would divert press attention from the corruption that had tarnished the homicide department's reputation. When they met, Christine stated that this boy was not Walter.

Still from the film “The Changeling”

The police captain investigating the case, JJ Jones, advised her not to make hasty conclusions, but to take the boy to her home for a few weeks to finally think it over, and Collins, who was experiencing severe emotional shock, agreed. Three weeks later, Christine Collins came to Jones and continued to insist that the boy was not her son. She had with her evidence from dentists and testimony from her friends, who also refused to recognize the boy as Walter. Then Jones placed Collins in the psychiatric ward of the Los Angeles County Hospital with a diagnosis of “Code 12,” which at that time was used to incarcerate people considered dangerous to society in prisons and hospitals.

Captain J. J. Jones

Five days after Christine Collins was imprisoned, Captain Jones interviewed the boy and he admitted that he was actually 12-year-old Arthur Jacob Hutchins from Iowa. It turned out that some tramp in a roadside Illinois cafe drew Hutchins' attention to his resemblance to the missing Walter. The boy had a dream of getting to Hollywood to see his favorite actor Tom Mix there, and so he decided to pretend to be Walter Collins.

Tom Mix (1880 - 1940)

Ten days after Hutchins' confession, Christine Collins was released from a mental hospital and immediately began legal proceedings against the Los Angeles Police Department.

Sanford Clark also failed to identify Hutchins as Walter Collins.

Left: Arthur Hutchins; on the right is Walter Collins Hutchins, born in Iowa on January 26, 1916. In 1933 (one of the sources had information that Aruthur was 33 years old at the time of the book’s publication), Arthur Hutchins wrote a confession about how he managed to deceive everyone - not only Walter’s close friends, but even “his dog and cat”, how and why he played the role of the missing boy. His mother died when he was nine years old, and some time later his father remarried. Arthur Jr.'s relationship with his stepmother did not work out. “A person does not understand what a hell this world can be in the hands of a stepmother who never wanted or loved you,” he wrote in a confession where he called himself an “adventurer boy.” Eventually, Hutchins ran away from home and for some time hitchhiked. At a roadside Illinois cafe in DeKalb, one visitor drew Hutchins' attention to his resemblance to the missing Walter Collins. When Hutchins was found by the Illinois police, he escaped with silence, and the police decided that Hutchins was the same kidnapping victim as Walter Collins, and therefore began to question him about the missing boy, since Hutchins seemed to be about the same age as him and was also outwardly similar. At first he said that he knew nothing about Walter, but then, realizing that he had a chance to get to California, and from there to Hollywood, he declared that he was Walter Collins.

When the deception was discovered, Hutchins was sent to the Iowa State Training School for Boys in Eldora for two years. In his confession, he openly apologized to Christine Collins and the state of California. As an adult, Hutchins began selling concessions at carnivals. He eventually began working in California as a horse trainer and jockey. He got married and had a daughter. Arthur Hutchins died of a blood clot in 1954. According to his daughter, Carol Hutchins, “Dad just loved adventure. In my opinion, he could do nothing wrong.”

Christine Collins

On September 13, 1930, Christine Collins won a lawsuit against Captain Jones and was awarded $10,800 in compensation (approximately $138,000 in 2010), which Jones did not pay her. And since Walter's body was never found, Christine Collins decided that her son was indeed alive and continued to search for him for the rest of his life, but died without ever knowing his fate. The last mention of Christine Collins is a small newspaper article dating back to 1941, when she tried to sue Captain Jones (by that time he was already retired) for $15,562 in the Supreme Court.

Still from the film “The Changeling”

According to some sources, she died in 1935, according to others - in 1989 - there is no exact information about her, all that is known for certain is that she never had any more children. Consequences for the city

Fragments of the bodies of the children killed by Northcott were found at the site of burials made in lime near the chicken coop, which is why this case was called the “Vineville Chicken Coop Murders.” Due to the uproar surrounding the murders, Wineville changed its name to Mira Loma on November 1, 1930. Nowadays, only Vineville Avenue, Vineville Road and Vineville Park remind of the city's former name.

After the Northcott case, the government signed a decree allowing people suspected of sex crimes against children to be jailed, even without charges being brought against them. But, a few years later, the law was repealed as violating human rights.

The film differs from real events mainly in small details.

For example, Sanford Clark in the film states that Northcott is his cousin, or the viewer is shown that electroshock therapy was used in mental hospitals at that time, although in reality it did not begin to be used until ten years later.

Still from the film “The Changeling”

The filmmakers also offered their own interpretation of the motives for which Arthur Hutchins pretended to be Walter Collins (according to their version, the Los Angeles police forced him to commit this deception in order to calm public pressure). The film's ending also makes reference to a boy who, five years after Northcott's execution, admits that he and Walter Collins managed to escape from the ranch in Wineville. In fact, there is no evidence that the boys abducted by Northcott attempted to escape or that Walter Collins managed to escape.

Although it did use real names, the entire Gordon Stewart Northcott story was largely kept to a minimum. The foreground shows the tragic story of Christine Collins, who unsuccessfully tried to prove that the boy she was returned was not her son. The film portrays almost all the key characters in the story, except for Northcott's mother Sarah Louise Northcott, who was convicted of the murder of Walter Collins.

The film is worth watching just to watch Jolie cut through on roller skates - something you won't see anywhere else. The only thing I didn’t like in the film was the actress’s make-up – her not-small lips were painted with dark or bright lipstick.

Still from the film “The Changeling”

And every time the operator took a close-up, I recoiled from the screen.

Films based on real events:

"Keep the rhythm"; "Balto"; "Boys do not Cry"; "Everyone loves whales."

Enjoy watching and

How children are replaced

The most common method of substitution is the substitution of babies in the maternity hospital.
Accordingly, it is carried out by employees of a medical institution - midwives or nurses. It is easiest to carry out such a fraud, since newly born children often do not have any distinctive external features, and in general, they may not always resemble their parents.

There are even cases when a newborn is changed to a child of a different gender. However, this is only possible if the mother did not receive ultrasound results and was under anesthesia during childbirth (for example, during a cesarean section).

A crime of this kind can be committed outside the maternity hospital. So, for example, a scam can be carried out to replace a stroller if it is left unattended in some public place.

It is important to understand that the replacement of a newborn must necessarily be accompanied by the fact that in its place there will be another child, a stranger to the given family. If it is stolen unilaterally, then this will already be regarded as kidnapping. Accordingly, such an atrocity is secret, and it is understood that a replacement will not be discovered. And if it does, it won’t be very soon.

How do mothers and children born in prison live?

Living together between mother and newborn is organized in a negligible number of prisons. In most cases, some time after giving birth, the prisoner returns to her cell, and the baby remains under the supervision of doctors and nannies in the orphanage. During the day, the mother can come up to six times to feed the baby. Walking in the fresh air is allowed, but limited in time - only one or two hours a day. Thus, the mother practically does not see the newborn, which, of course, is depressing. And prisoners sitting in a colony where it is impossible to organize a children's home are forced to be separated from their children almost immediately after their birth. In such cases, children are transported to orphanages. Things are completely different in those colonies where the child and mother are allowed to live together.

Photo: Stanislav Krasilnikov / TASS

In only two colonies, in Mordovia and the Chelyabinsk region, mothers can live with their children. There is a separate room for them, very similar to a dormitory. The mother and child live in their own room, where there is only a bed, a crib for the child and a small closet. In the Chelyabinsk colony there is a sink with water right in the room, but in the Mordovian colony there is not. But in principle, cramped conditions do not prevent convicted women from caring for and loving their baby. However, not everyone awakens to maternal instinct.

What is the crime

In the case of child substitution, the crime will look like this:

The object of this offense will be the family’s right to non-interference in its internal affairs, as well as the child’s right to know his own parents, live with them, and receive education and care from them.

The objective part of the crime is expressed directly in the fact of child substitution . As mentioned above, this implies introducing one child for another, that is, in return the criminal must leave his own or another child.

In fact, replacing one child with another is possible only in infancy, because parents must barely know him so as not to immediately suspect the substitution.

The crime will be considered completed the moment the substitution is made.

On the subjective side, there must be malicious intent, expressed in the form of a selfish motive. Substitution due to negligence is not subject to this article.

The subject of a crime can be any sane citizen who has reached the age of sixteen. This could be medical staff, the parents of another child. If the crime is committed by the head of a medical institution, the offender may incur double liability as provided for in the criminal code.

Most often, substitution is detected through a DNA test. Parents resort to this procedure when they suspect that the child is too different from them.

In judicial practice today there are no precedents for passing a sentence under this article, since it is almost impossible to establish whether the substitution was made intentionally or whether it happened by accident. However, the phenomenon of substitution itself is not uncommon.

For example, such grief overtook a family from Kopeisk. It turned out that the parents had been raising someone else’s child for thirteen years. This became known when the couple was getting ready to divorce (precisely because the daughter was not at all like her father), and the wife of the family, in order to prove her innocence, decided to conduct a DNA test. However, shocking news awaited them: the girl really turned out to be not her own.

As a result, the real children of the two couples were found, but it was not possible to prove the guilt of any of the medical staff. The families had to be content with the financial compensation that was given to them by court decision. Money is money, but the parents of both families received moral trauma for life.

I won’t give up what’s mine, I won’t give up someone else’s

In all four cases of child substitution, the court sided with the victims. In the Oryol region they even managed to punish the perpetrators. In 2009, hearings were held about the replacement of two babies - Nikita and Adlan. The parents learned about the nurse’s mistake two years later: the mother of one of the boys, Anna Androsova, discovered another name on the back of the newborn’s tag - Zarema Taisumova.

roddom4

Photo: depositphotos/oksun70

A resident of Chelyabinsk who was replaced at the maternity hospital demanded compensation

Then she contacted the Chechen family, but they flatly refused to give up blue-eyed Adlan. At that time, the boy had already become like family to them. The Taisumov family was preparing to move to Grozny; it never occurred to them that the child they were raising could be replaced.

The Androsovs went to court, a DNA examination was ordered, which showed that, due to an error, a Chechen boy was raised in the Androsov family, and a Russian boy with a severe congenital defect was raised in the Taisumov family. After the test, the children were returned to their families. The court awarded the mother of each child 150 thousand rubles. A midwife who made a fatal mistake while changing babies has been fired. The families were denied the opportunity to initiate a criminal case into the substitution of babies.

Features of intent

To qualify a substitution under Art.
153 it is necessary to determine what the legislator understands by selfish and base motives. Selfish motive is the desire to make a profit for one’s action or to get rid of material costs. This is the motive behind doctors who replace a baby for money, as well as parents who abandon a sick newborn in favor of a healthy one in order to avoid spending on treatment.

Base motives are any other motives, the essence of which contradicts generally accepted moral standards, for example, revenge, envy, hatred, etc.

Arbitrage practice

Replacement d

This can be carried out either accidentally or criminally.

D. held the position of head physician of the maternity ward, where a close friend of the woman, girl S., was admitted with contractions. During childbirth, S. experienced serious difficulties, which led to the death of the newborn. D. personally delivered the baby and suggested to her friend that she replace the dead baby with a healthy one who was born in the next room. D. herself changed the children and also made appropriate changes to the documentation.

How to avoid substitution?

To avoid becoming a victim of a crime or an accident, you must follow a few simple rules:

Partner childbirth allows the spouse to control everything that happens from the outside, observe the actions of doctors, as well as all the movements of the newborn;
It is better to choose a maternity hospital where wards are equipped for permanent joint stay of mother and baby;
carefully examine your baby, highlight characteristic features such as ear shape, hair color and quantity, growth line;
If in serious doubt, request testing.

Advice!
Modern communication devices, even the simplest ones, allow you to take photographs. If you are afraid of replacing your newborn and doubt that you will be able to remember and recognize him, take some photos or videos. Video about Article 153 of the Criminal Code

Punishment for replacing a child

Imprisonment for up to five years.
An administrative fine with a maximum amount of 200 thousand rubles. The alternative is eighteen times the salary of the guilty person.
Compensation for moral damage in the amount specified in the lawsuit.

If you are faced with a situation where you or someone you know is faced with the problem of child replacement, you should definitely contact a qualified lawyer who will help you take into account all the necessary details, fill out a statement of claim in the required form and select all the evidence that will contribute to your victory in the case.