Two teenage girls said they were sex trafficked to gain a mother’s trust and then kidnapped their baby, Milwaukee police said.
Scathina Cureton, who asked not to be pictured, told police the girls, aged 14 and 16, abducted their three-month-old son Anthony after they took them to their home on Block 4300 of West Marion Street last week invited to Milwaukee.
The 35-year-old mother said she was moved by the girls’ claims that they were homeless because “their mother made them do things with their boyfriend at home”.
“They basically lied to me like they were trafficking and harassing,” Scathina told Fox. “I offered them to come to my house to find somewhere to go … It was getting a little late, I eventually dozed off, and by the time I fell asleep, my baby was gone, they were gone and my door was unlocked.”
After a distraught Scathina alerted authorities, the Milwaukee Police Department and the community launched efforts that resulted in the baby being safely returned to his mother’s arms.
The girls, whose names are not given because they are minors, are being held in a juvenile detention center. No motive for the kidnapping was given.
“I think they should be prosecuted to the fullest for having nothing to do with taking my baby. I mean, stuff like that only happens in Lifetime movies,” Scathina told local news station WISN.
Three-month-old Anthony was kidnapped from his mother’s home after two teenagers who claimed to be sex trafficking victims gained her trust and she invited them inside, police said
An Amber Alert was issued for Anthony around 7am on Wednesday and he was safely returned to his mother that same afternoon
This is the moment Anthony’s alleged kidnappers were arrested. The motive for the kidnapping is unclear
Scathina called police just after 2am on Wednesday when she realized her baby and girls were missing.
An Amber Alert was issued for Anthony at around 7am that day and he was returned safely to his mother that same afternoon.
“The only thing I can do now is thank god they found my baby,” the mother told Fox.
“I really thank the community because I see there were a lot of people out here, the Milwaukee Police Department. You have done a good job.’
Scathina said the two teenagers approached her at a shop near her home and told her they were sex trafficking victims.
Touched by her story, the woman decided to welcome the girls to her home and offered to call them a cab.
“…If they didn’t have a ride, I was willing to call an Uber or a Lyft to get them to their destination, but they never stayed. That was never the intention,” she said.
But the teenagers took advantage of Scathina’s kindness and took baby Anthony away while she slept in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
An investigation led officers to a home on 44th Street and Fiebrantz, where they found the girls and the baby. Three other men in the home, aged 19, 33 and 56, were arrested on unrelated charges
An investigation led officers to a home on 44th Street and Fiebrantz, where they found the girls and the baby.
Three other men in the home, aged 19, 33 and 56, were arrested on unrelated charges.
A source told WISN one of the girls told police no one believed she was sexually assaulted until she showed up with a baby.
“It was just crazy. Why would you take my baby while I slept?’ said the mother.
“They could have taken my phone, they could have taken the games, the computer tablets, everything – but you all took my baby, why?”
The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office has not yet announced the charges against the teens.
‘I’m so tired. I was just going insane and wondering if I was that worried about my baby. I didn’t know what happened to him and what they did to him,” Scathina told WSIN.
“You don’t hear that every day with teenagers having babies. You know, that was crazy and they need to be held accountable for their actions.’