‘Don’t set kidnapper free’
Baby’s parents beg parole board not to release their former ‘con-artist’ nanny
The parents of a kidnapped baby girl implored the Parole Board not to release their former nanny — a “convincing and calculating con-artist”.
Nadene Faye Manukau-Togiavalu will leave prison in December after being granted parole at a hearing yesterday.
The 23-year-old was serving a three-year prison term for an elaborate plot to kidnap a newborn baby from an Epsom family for whom she nannied.
Her scam included a hoax baby shower and pregnancy suit as she attempted to convince people she had adopted out the child and now wanted it back.
The parents of the then 11-day-old baby girl, who was taken in August 2017, said they were “disturbed and disappointed” with the Parole Board’s decision.
In a letter to the board, the parents wrote: “You may have found in your interactions with her that she speaks calmly, articulately and convincingly.
“She has an ability to befriend people, solicit empathy with her stories, then exploit any weakness in a person to her advantage.
“We ask that you give consideration to what is possible with her elaborate lies — how she planned over some months to kidnap a newborn baby and deceive so many people in this process.”
The parents said police had told them during the investigation that Manukau-Togiavalu was “one of the most convincing and calculating conartists they have come across”.
“Despite whatever she may say, we still do not believe in this time she is remorseful and would be capable of engaging in prolonged fraudulent behaviour designed to hurt other people,” they wrote.
After the decision went against the parents’ wishes they told the Herald Manukau-Togiavalu’s “evil plan and deception” continues to cause considerable and ongoing trauma.
“Her release from prison puts children and families at risk.”
As part of the kidnapping plot, Manukau-Togiavalu also duped a nanny agency before working for the Auckland family and then enlisted the help of her younger cousin Sydnee Shaunna Taulapapa to physically steal the baby.
CCTV cameras caught a balaclavaclad Taulapapa creeping away through the family home’s back door with the newborn in her arms.
“The lengthy and frustrating court process saw Nadene receive a light sentence and Sydnee — who physically broke into our home to take our baby — escape on a discharge without conviction. We were robbed of justice,” the parents said.
Taulapapa was discharged without conviction for kidnapping and burglary but was ordered to complete 400 hours’ community work and pay $2000 to the baby’s parents or a children’s charity, which was donated to fertility research.
The Crown appealed the sentence, seeking a conviction for Taulapapa, but was unsuccessful in the Court of Appeal.
The parents and about 80 police searched for the newborn, who was discovered with Taulapapa in a car in Favona.
Manukau-Togiavalu was also convicted and discharged for burglary, criminal harassment, making an intimate visual recording and dishonestly using a document. Time on parole is included as part of a person’s sentence, with Manukau-Togiavalu’s due to end on August 30, 2020.