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DES MOINES, Iowa – A Des Moines woman is being held in the Polk County Jail on a charge of child stealing.

Twenty-two-year-old Monica Harris was arrested Thursday night. Police say they were called to 2322 59th about a woman holding a child in the front yard and looking confused. When officers arrived witnesses told them Harris had taken the child from a nearby address.

Harris originally told police the child was hers but was unable to give them a name of the child. Then she told officers she had been told to go get the child and wait for a ride to pick her up.

Police say the child was taken from a babysitter who told them she wasn’t able to reach the mother who she thought was in jail. She also didn’t know the last name of the mother.

The mother showed up to the scene and admitted she lied to the babysitter about being in jail in order to get her to babysit. The mother’s boyfriend also told police Harris was his ex-girlfriend and he had been in contact with her just hours before the incident.

Harris is also being held on a probation violation.