A Nebraska woman pleaded guilty Monday to burning and concealing a fetus after she took medication to end her pregnancy, while prosecutors move forward with a criminal case accusing her mother of illegally helping with the abortion.
Prosecutors said Celeste Burgess gave birth to the stillborn fetus about 29 weeks and five days into her pregnancy. She was 17 at the time, but prosecutors charged her as an adult.
Burgess, now 18, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of concealing or abandoning a dead body and prosecutors dropped two misdemeanor charges. The fetus was found buried in a field north of Norfolk in northeast Nebraska.
Celeste Burgess is scheduled to be sentenced on July 20. She faces up to two years in prison. Prosecutors agreed not to make a sentencing recommendation.
The case against Jessica Burgess is unusual. The prosecutor involved has said he had never before charged anyone with violating Nebraska’s 20-week abortion limit that was passed in 2010.
Last summer, a man pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for helping the women bury the fetus.