London police officer whose baby was seized in US: 'I've spent $75,000 trying to get my child back'

Baby seized: Louise Fielden
David Churchill8 January 2016

A Scotland Yard officer today told of the dramatic moment US police stormed her New York hotel room and her baby was taken into care.

The holiday of a lifetime during maternity leave turned into a “nightmare” for Louise Fielden, 42, a Tower Hamlets-based Pc, when the officers took away Samuel, then just six months old.

Staff at the Chelsea Highline Hotel called in social services alleging she had left Samuel unattended in the hotel lobby and for 30 minutes in their hotel room.

Ms Fielden, a Pc for 13 years, is now locked in a legal battle to get 15-month-old Samuel back after he was placed in foster care in the US in April.

She said today she has CCTV proving she never left Samuel, who was born via IVF and an anonymous sperm donor, in the lobby.

A recent image of Louise Fielden's son Samuel

Ms Fielden, from Battersea, also says she left him unattended in the hotel room only for a short period when she had to descend three flights of stairs in the hotel to sterilise his feeding bottles in hot water.

She only returned to the UK earlier this week after criminal charges against her were dropped, and is now battling to get Samuel back through the US federal and family courts.

She revealed fighting the case has already cost her more than $75,000.

American foster carer Susan Sena

Speaking of the dramatic moments leading to Samuel being taken, three days after she arrived in New York following three months on holiday in Antigua, she said she had spent hours telling a social services official Samuel was safe, but “she then decided to remove him anyway... three police officers entered the room and threw me to the floor.”

She alleged that one officer assaulted her and told her: “Take that you limey bitch, you can’t be a police officer.”

Ms Fielden added: “Samuel has been taken away illegally and I haven’t done anything wrong. I just want my son back.”

She says her son’s US foster carer Susan Sena is “not appropriate” as she is a member of a gay rights support group.

The Pc has begun court proceedings to get Samuel immediately returned to the UK to live with her or her cousin. A hearing is due next week.

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