A teenage nanny who allegedly tried to kidnap the 16- month- old son of her employer in Brgy. Tangub, was apprehended by the police at about 10 p.m. Saturday on board a tricycle in Brgy. Bata, Bacolod City.

The suspect, 15, whose name is being withheld, is a resident of Brgy. Marcelo in Calatrava town, Negros Occidental, City Police Director Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz said yesterday

The boy’s mother, Niña Tolentino, of Gardenville Subdivision in Brgy. Tangub, Bacolod City told the police she and her two other children had gone to a mall but when they arrived home at about 6 p.m. Saturday the suspect and her son were nowhere to be found.

A neighbor told them that the nanny had taken her son to a canteen but when they went there, they saw only her son’s stroller, the police said.

Tolentino checked the nanny’s cabinet and found that it is empty, so she reported the incident to police station 8, who immediately launched a manhunt operation, De la Paz said.

Station 8 commander, Chief Insp. Danilo Francisco told the DAILY STAR that they went to the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. Port to check if the suspect was there.

Francisco said a concerned citizen told them that a female teenager, whose description fit the suspect, had gone to the port with a boy and was crying because there was no sea vessel going to Iloilo then.

He added that the concerned citizen told them that the woman rode a tricycle going to Silay City and after almost four hours of search they were able to apprehend the nanny.

Tricycle driver Hanzel Arinday said in a radio interview that he saw the suspect wandering with the boy at the BREDCO port and when he asked her her name, she introduced herself as “Christine Ledesma” from Calatrava and that the boy was her nephew.

Arinday offered to bring them to the North Terminal in Brgy Bata so she could go home.

Investigation showed that the suspect had been employed with the Tolentinos for almost a month and that she failed to present police and National Bureau of Investigation clearance when she started working for them as she was only referred to them by a friend.

De la Paz yesterday reminded the public to see to it that they get all the necessary information about the nannies they hire before accepting them, and check if they have criminal backgrounds.

The suspect is now in the custody of the Social Development Center at the BCPO headquarters. Kidnapping charges will be filed against her.*APN

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