Mother of stillborn lost in Regions laundry was 14

A 32-year-old man was charged with statutory rape for allegedly having sex with the 14-year-old mother of a stillborn that was sent in dirty linens to a Red Wing laundry last week, according to criminal charges.

On April 3, a teen from St. Paul delivered a stillborn at Regions Hospital, according to charges filed Friday in Ramsey County District Court against the baby's alleged father. Jose Armando Recinos-Ramirez of St. Paul was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct.

On Monday, St. Paul Police said the girl's stillborn baby was the one found in a basket of linens last week by Crothall Laundry Services workers in Red Wing after being shipped from Regions' morgue.

"The same baby that was discovered in Red Wing by the laundry service is the same baby in the complaint," said Howie Padilla, a spokesman for the St. Paul Police.

The hospital announced last week that another stillborn was believed to have been sent in the same bundle of laundry; however, that body has yet to be found.

According to the complaint, the girl told police that Recinos-Ramirez was the only person she had slept with and that he had told her he was 17 when they met at the Mall of America last summer. She said they started dating last September, and she still considered him her boyfriend. She said the last time they slept together was before Christmas.

The girl initially told police that she did not know where the baby's father lived or his date of birth. She said she did not want to provide police with his personal information, and initially said he was in the United States illegally and had fled to El Salvador. The girl told police she loved Recinos-Ramirez and that she wanted to marry him.

He told police that the girl told him she was 18 years old, but he began to suspect she was younger a month after they met. Recinos-Ramirez said he asked for the girl's identification but she had refused to show it to him. Recinos-Ramirez admitted he and the girl had sex one or two times. He said the girl had told him the baby was his but he wasn't sure because he said she was out "messing around." He was at the hospital with her during the delivery.

On April 16, the stillborn's remains were found in Red Wing. According to reports by the Red Wing police, about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, police spoke by phone with an anonymous caller who said she had received a text message from someone at the laundry service about 10 a.m. that said there was a dead baby there.

She said she was told that the laundry contacted a hospital and someone from the hospital "came and picked up the baby and put it in a plastic bag and just left."

According to the reports, Red Wing police contacted St. Paul police and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). St. Paul police contacted Regions. The Ramsey County medical examiner's office went to the hospital and took possession of the body when it was notified by the BCA.

The St. Paul Police Department is leading an ongoing investigation, Padilla said. According to the Red Wing police, the first case has been sent to the Goodhue County attorney's office for review for any possible criminal charges.

"We have no reason to believe there was criminal activity connected to that baby's death," he said.