A young woman from northeastern Nebraska, age 18, has been sentenced to 90 days in jail along with two years of probation for her involvement in burning and burying her aborted child, a crime she carried out with the help of her mother.
Celeste Burgess, from Norfolk, pleaded guilty earlier in the year to the charge of concealing or abandoning a dead body. As part of an agreement with prosecutors, two other misdemeanor charges – false reporting and concealing the death of another person – were dropped.
The allegations revolve around Celeste and her 42-year-old mother, Jessica Burgess, who are said to have collaborated in terminating the pregnancy.The abortion took place well into Celeste’s third trimester, which, at the time, violated Nebraska law since it banned abortions after 20 weeks of gestation.
Reports say that Jessica Burgess acquired abortion pills online, which she then provided to her then-17-year-old daughter during the spring of 2022.
Jessica Burgess herself pleaded guilty to providing an illegal abortion, false reporting, and tampering with human skeletal remains earlier this month. In return for her plea, charges of concealing the death of another person and performing an abortion without proper licensing were dismissed. She is scheduled to be sentenced on September 22.
The investigation into the abortion began after police received a tip. Investigators obtained a search warrant to access Facebook messages exchanged between the mother and daughter, in which they allegedly discussed the termination of the pregnancy and the disposal of the fetal remains. Subsequently, the police discovered the burnt fetal remains buried in a field north of Norfolk.
According to court records, one of the Facebook messages revealed Jessica Burgess instructing her daughter on how to take the pills to induce the abortion.
