Woman says she bought newborn for $1000

PITTSBURGH - Police searched Friday for the mother of a newborn brought into a hospital by a woman they say first claimed she had given birth, then said she had paid $1,000 for the child.

Authorities are concerned that the infant's mother might be in danger or need medical attention.

Andrea Curry-Demus, who said she bought the baby after befriending the pregnant woman, has been charged with child endangerment. In 1991 she pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and received 10 years' probation after stabbing a woman in a suspected plot to steal the woman's infant.

"I'm sure there is concern that there could be an injured woman somewhere or if there's a woman seeking treatment for her follow-up care after giving birth," Pittsburgh police Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki said Friday.

Curry-Demus, 38, of Wilkinsburg, was arraigned Friday and jailed until she posts $10,000 bond and undergoes a psychiatric exam.

"I didn't do nothing," she told reporters as she was put into a police car Thursday.

The baby will remain at West Penn Hospital until authorities determine who the mother is.

Authorities say the umbilical cord was still attached when Curry-Demus brought the child to the hospital Thursday.

Police don't know where or how Curry-Demus got the infant but are sure "she didn't give birth," Stangrecki said.

Police said in a criminal complaint that after tests showed the child wasn't hers, Curry-Demus told police she miscarried in June and didn't want to upset her own mother. Curry-Demus said she befriended a pregnant woman and discussed buying her child when it was born, according to the complaint. Curry-Demus told police she paid a woman named Tina $1,000 for the baby.

Curry-Demus said Tina came to her house on Wednesday with the newborn wrapped in a towel, police said. Curry-Demus said she called medics Thursday because the baby was still dirty from birth, and medics took them to the hospital.