Norfolk teen sentenced 90 days in jail, two years' probation for role in disposing of illegal abortion

MADISON, Neb. -- A northeast Nebraska teen who pleaded guilty to illegally disposing of a fetus after an abortion has been sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years of probation.

19-year-old Celeste Burgess pleaded guilty in May to one count of removing, concealing, or abandoning a dead body as part of a plea agreement in Madison County District Court. 

The charges were filed after authorities said Burgess, along with her mother Jessica, illegally aborted Celeste's pregnancy last year and buried the fetus in rural Madison County. Celeste Burgess was 17 at the time of the incident.

Prosecutors dropped two misdemeanors in return for Burgess' guilty plea in May. She faced up to two years in prison after her guilty plea.

Earlier this month, Jessica Burgess pleaded guilty to two felonies and a misdemeanor. Two additional charges, one felony and one misdemeanor, were dropped as part of the agreement.

According to court records, Jessica and Celeste Burgess reportedly discussed terminating Celeste's pregnancy via Facebook messages, which were later acquired by law enforcement.

Madison County Attorney Joe Smith said it’s the first time he has charged anyone for illegally performing an abortion after 20 weeks, a restriction that was passed in 2010. Before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June, states weren’t allowed to enforce abortion bans until the point at which a fetus is considered viable outside the womb, at roughly 24 weeks.

Prosecutors said in court that they estimated the newborn was terminated at 30 weeks into the pregnancy. 

Nebraska has since passed a 12-week abortion ban in the Legislature. Prosectors were working off the 2010 law, since the case reached court prior to the passage of the 12-week ban in the Legislature.

In one of the Facebook messages acquired by law enforcement, now-42-year-old Jessica Burgess, told her then 17-year-old daughter that she had obtained abortion pills for her and gave her instructions on how to take them to end the pregnancy.

Last summer, a northeast Nebraska man pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for helping the women bury the fetus.