Carey Roberts: 'Additional Fetal-Ripping Case Study'

Article here.

'Over four months ago I wrote an article about the phenomenon of what I have come to call "fetal-ripping", the violent crime of cutting open a pregnant woman to steal the fetus. This article came on the heels of a prediction I made on wendymcelroy.com/smf in which I discussed the most recent case of fetal-ripping that had occurred in late July. In that case, after Darlene Haynes was killed and her living fetus taken, I predicted that when the violent criminal was found that it would be a woman, which eventually turned out to be true.

In the article, I presented a series of other case studies of this specific type of crime and showed that in every single case the attacker was a woman. I have found no examples of a man having ever committed this type of crime (which is distinct from simply killing a pregnant woman, which many men have done). I stated that this pattern of crime needs to be noticed, and that this should be included in the discussion of gender and violent crime.

On December 8, the Washington Post reported that police arrested Veronica Deramous who attempted to commit the same crime. Deramous kept her pregnant victim captive for five days, restraining her with duct tape and telling the victim that she was going to cut out and steal her fetus with box cutters and a razor. Fortunately, the victim escaped.

We cannot say that Deramous "snapped". Deramous made a series of logical (but not rational) choices in this premeditated violent crime. This is simply another case study in what is as yet an unrecognized phenomenon.

It is both irresponsible and a hazard to women that this pattern is not more widely recognized.'