FREEPORT, Grand Bahama – A twenty-two-year-old Grand Bahama woman has been charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child in Palm Beach County, Florida, after she allegedly caused the death of her newborn baby girl because she had made a promise to God to abstain from sex until marriage.
According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Rachel Carey Hall was being held on a $250,000 bond, after she allegedly gave birth to a baby girl, wrapped her in a t-shirt, then placed the baby in a plastic bag and hid her under a bathroom sink.
“Rachel Hall was arrested at a residence in Deerfield Beach, Florida on Friday evening,” said Paul Miller, a spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office, in an interview with the Bahama Journal today. “We had received a warrant from a judge for her arrest on aggravated manslaughter of a child and the Broward County Sheriff’s office went to a residence where she was known to have lived in the past. Allegedly her bags were packed and I think she was planning the next morning to go back to The Bahamas.”
According to Mr. Miller, Hall was transported to Bethesda Hospital in Palm Beach County on Friday, May 30, after she reportedly experienced bleeding. The hospital’s emergency team was phoned by Hall’s aunt and upon Hall’s arrival to the hospital, physicians reportedly questioned her on whether she had just given birth.
“She denied having given birth,” Mr. Miller said. “But the aunt had mentioned that there was a large clot in the shower of her home and it was later determined that it was a placenta and an umbilical cord. At that point, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office got involved and after about four hours our deputies were able to get Rachel to confess that she had given birth to a baby, but she claimed that it was stillborn.”
Mr. Miller further added that investigations took a new turn when the Medical Examiner’s office in Palm Beach County revealed that based upon preliminary autopsy results, the baby girl born to Hall was not stillborn and drew a breath after birth. The results also revealed that the infant was between 34 to 38 weeks old and was able to have survived if given immediate medical care, according to the medical examiner’s report.
“In the affidavit filed by her detectives, Rachel did reportedly make statements regarding this incident,” Mr. Miller said. “She had indicated that she did not want her father to know that she was sexually active with anyone because she had made a promise to her father and to God that she would remain chaste until marriage, and so that was one of the reasons she claimed for why she was trying to conceal the birth of the child.”
The Bahama Journal learned that Rachel Hall was one of several young persons on Grand Bahama, who had participated in a youth and abstinence programme co-coordinated by the Happy Hour Experience Ministry in Freeport.
The “I.P.P.U.A.A” Programme, founded by entertainer Frank Penn, encourages youngsters to sign a “promissory pledge” or “abstinence flag”, whereby young persons make a commitment between themselves and God to abstain from pre-marital sex.
According to Mr. Penn, persons who sign the abstinence flag are not pressured regarding the personal commitment they choose to make.
“Absolutely no pressure at all,” Mr. Penn told the Bahama Journal last night. “The youngsters would have been told at different times that even though they make a commitment, if they make a mistake, God is a forgiving God who would restore them. The flag is not a commitment to me or the ministry or to anyone else, it is only a tangible representation of the person’s commitment to their God as a reminder of the promise they have made.
“I am deeply saddened by what has happened with Rachel, and I am praying for her and I ask that all Bahamians pray for her as well.”
According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s spokesman, Hall’s quarter of a million dollar bond could be subject to a number of conditions imposed by the Broward County Court, including having her travel documents seized or allowing her to appeal for a bond hearing.
“Rachel’s case is in the court’s hands now,” Mr. Miller said. “She is currently being detained at the Palm Beach County jail, and she will be awaiting her eventual trial in this matter.”
The Bahama Journal
