Corrections Officer Fired for Fostering Inmate’s Baby Reunites Mother and Child

For the first time since she gave birth, a former inmate at the Louisiana Transitional Center for Women was reunited with her baby son on Tuesday.

The baby, named Kayson, was born in May to inmate Katie Bourgeois. As Bourgeois served her time, Kayson was in the care of someone unexpected: a former correctional officer at the prison, Roberta Bell.

According to WLBT, Bell "sacrificed her job" and her family's stability to care for Kayson after Bourgeois’s friends requested her to do so. A correctional officer at the time she met Bourgeois, Bell was fired from her job for agreeing to care for the child.

Bell was fired by the facility for sharing information with an inmate before the baby was even delivered. She told the outlet she had reached out to superiors to make sure things were done through protocol but didn't hear back until days before the scheduled delivery. By then, she had given her information to Bourgeois, who had to share it with the hospital.

The correctional officer at Tallulah was first approached by other inmates when Bourgeois was a few months away from giving birth. Fearing that her child might be given to Child Protection Services, Bourgeois was desperately looking for a caretaker.

"She was trying to find somebody that would help keep her baby until she finished her term,” Bell said in an interview last month. “She was very concerned about Child Protection Services getting the baby and her not knowing where the baby was since she had such a short term to serve.”

Bourgeois had less than a year left to serve.

While Bell initially thought Bourgeois was joking about having her care for her baby, she quickly realized it was not a joke when Bourgeois pleaded with her.

“She said, ‘I really need somebody to get my baby when I get ready to have it because I don’t have anybody,’” Bell told WLBT.

Bourgeois allegedly felt she had no other option as her mother was going through a divorce.

Now, weeks later, 57-year-old Bell was able to reunite baby Kayson with Bourgeois upon her release.

“I can’t thank her enough for everything she’s done. Kayson’s doing great,” Bourgeois said.

Reflecting on her experience raising the child, Bell shared some advice with Bourgeois, who had been imprisoned on drug charges.

“If you’re going to better your life, you’ve got to be serious about that life. This is real, Katie. I’m not going to tell you it’s easy.”

Sharing why she trusted Bell over CPS, Bourgeois told the station that she feared CPS due to an experience with her first child.

“My first kid, a friend of mine took her and said that I was going to be able to see her. Ended up saying that she would be in harm’s way if she was anywhere around me. I didn’t want that for Kayson,” said Bourgeois.

A GoFundMe was set up by Bell’s family to help raise Kayson while Bourgeois was in prison. Bell shared that the community’s support helped her care for the child, and while she cared for him deeply, she was happy to reunite him with his family.

“I love him. I love him dearly. But it’s her baby. And I want her to have her baby. Because you know what? This baby is going to bring joy to her, and to her mom,” Bell said.

As for moving forward, Bell has plans to build a recovery home in Vicksburg for women like Katie who were just released from prison, she told the outlet.