FREMONT, Neb. (AP) - A 19-year-old Omaha woman who said her boyfriend held her baby hostage unless she robbed a bank has been sentenced for robbing a Fremont bank.
On Monday Kimberly Babbitt was given five to 10 years in prison, the Fremont Tribune reported (https://bit.ly/1eQhQez). She’d pleaded no contest to a robbery charge after prosecutors dropped a second robbery count.
Dodge County Attorney Oliver Glass said Babbitt went into the Fremont National Bank on Sept. 28, pushed her way to the front of a line of customers and handed a bank teller a note demanding money. After receiving some money, Babbitt went to a second teller and demanded more money. She left the bank with nearly $2,200 in cash. Less than $1,150 was recovered by the FBI after the arrest of Babbitt, who used to live in Fremont.
At Monday’s hearing, her attorney, Adam Tripp, said Babbitt was a young person with an unfortunate past who made a bad choice.
Babbitt was abused at the age of 14 by a 30-year-old man, her mother died and her father was a trucker who rarely went home, Tripp said.
Babbitt was in abusive relationship last year with a 44-year-old man who had fathered her child, Tripp said. The man took the baby from Babbitt, her attorney said, and told her he wouldn’t return the child until she robbed a bank. Her presentencing evaluation said Babbitt reported that the man told her what to do and say when robbing the bank and what to tell police if she were questioned.
Tripp said the man is believed to have fled to California after returning the child to Babbitt.
In tears, Babbitt told the judge she was sorry. But Judge Geoffrey Hall told Babbitt that if she’d called police initially, the “mastermind of this crime” would be in jail rather than Babbitt. Hall also said he was concerned that Babbitt continued to lie about what happened even after she was arrested.
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Information from: Fremont Tribune, https://www.fremontneb.com
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