Fertility doctor's son who poisoned pregnant girlfriend with abortion pill 'because he was in love with another woman' is jailed for 14 years

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Fertility doctor's son who poisoned pregnant girlfriend with abortion pill 'because he was in love with another woman' is jailed for 14 years

• John Welden of Tampa, Florida gave his ex-girlfriend Remee Jo Lee pills and told her they were antibiotics - but they induced an abortion
• He gave her the pills 'because he was worried about his other girlfriend finding out about the pregnancy'
• Welden's father is prominent Tampa fertility doc Dr. Stephen Welden, whose signature Welden forged to get the abortion drugs

The Florida fertility doctor's son who caused his girlfriend to miscarry their baby by tricking her into taking an abortion pill was sentenced to over 13 years in prison on Monday. John Andrew Welden, 28 of Tampa was handed nearly the maximum sentence he could receive as part of a plea deal in which he admitted to signing his father's name to a prescription.

Welden then swapped out the label for the abortion drug Cytotec with one for an everyday antibiotic and fooled his girlfriend Remee Jo Lee, 27, into taking the pill. She was six or seven weeks pregnant when she miscarried.

Welden pleaded guilty in September to tampering with a consumer product and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He had faced a possible life sentence if convicted of his original charge, killing an unborn child. Welden admitted in a plea agreement that he forged the signature of his father, who is esteemed Tampa-area fertility expert Dr. Stephen Weldon.

Welden’s father had no role in the heinous crime, but was in the courtroom in the weeks preceding sentencing as prosecutors sought to prove that the single dose of Cytotec had caused Lee’s miscarriage. Prosecutors succeeded after expert witnesses for the state testified that any amount of the drug also known as misoprostol could cause miscarriage. As part of Judge Richard Lazzara’s decision, he said Welden is ‘not evil, he committed an evil act,’ reports WTSP, on that deprived Lee of her pregnancy in ‘the most cowardly way.’

Lee took the stand during the trial and glared at Welden, calling him a ‘dunce.’ 'The only thing I want now,' she said, 'is for the court to show Andrew the same amount of mercy he showed me in my pregnancy,'

He’ll begin serving his 13.8 month sentence on Wednesday. He apologized profusely during the hearing and as he left. Lee has spoken out about her heartache over the termination saying: 'I wanted this baby more than anything. Not because it was Andrew's, but it was my baby as well.'

He was originally charged with murder but under a plea deal the charges were reduced to tampering with a consumer product and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He is currently awaiting sentencing. Lee told 20/20 how the tragic event took place seven months into her relationship with Welden, who was in a five-year relationship with another woman at the time.

The couple hit it off after meeting at the gentleman's club she worked in and soon started seeing each other. 'He went through a long-term relationship with a young woman named Tara. He said that that relationship had ended,' she recalled. 'He never even used condoms with me,' Lee said, adding that he would tell her he loved her. 'I was well aware of what could happen.'

Welden was a doctor's son working toward a degree in biomedical sciences and religion. When she told him she was pregnant, he did not take the news very well. 'Oh God, I want to die. Are you serious?' Is what Lee said Welden texted her when she sent him a picture of the pregnancy test results. Remee, please don't do this, I beg you. I am destroyed.'

Welden took her to his father's office soon after for a prenatal exam and the next day he called her to tell her she had a mild infection and needed to take medication to clear it up. 'He worked for his father, at his father's clinics. So it wouldn't be strange or uncustomary, you know, to call me personally,' said Lee. 'He said I had a mild infection. I just needed to clear it up, that it would not hurt the baby.' Welden then gave Lee what he told her were amoxicillin pills, as well as prenatal vitamins. After taking one of the pills on her way to work, Lee told 20/20 she went from 'being pregnant and sick with morning sickness, to a horrible pain, like someone had shoved a bayonet into my stomach.'

She was rushed to hospital where she was told she lost the baby. It was there, that a doctor saw the pills Lee took and told her they were meant for inducing pregnancy - or abortion.

Federal prosecutors said Welden never wanted Lee to have his baby - even though she was determined to keep the pregnancy and raise the child on her own. After she lost the fetus in the hospital, she went to police and agreed to have her conversations with Welden recorded. 'I was hoping that this was some sort of horrible mistake,' Lee said. 'He told me what the medication was, and it was Cytotec.'

Authorities released a transcript of a conversation Lee had with Welden. Welden told Lee that Tara Fillinger, his other girlfriend, had found out about their relationship and was 'furious'. Lee says: 'If you wanted to go be with Tara, that's fine. Go be with Tara. 'I woulda had my kid and I woulda been fine with that... woulda told my parents it was someone else's. I wouldn't have bothered you for money. I wouldn't have bothered you at all.' 'I didn't want to be that guy,' Welden replies. 'So you're going to be the guy that goes and just kills the baby without even letting me know?' Miss Lee says. 'To save your own precious hide? Right?' Welden responds: 'I guess. If I saved anything, I didn't really save anything.' Welden also takes time during his conversation with Miss Hill to pity himself. 'My life is over,' he whines. 'I just wanna kill myself.'

After he admits to giving Lee the abortion drug he says: 'I'm just a horrible person, Remee. I'm sorry I ruined everything.'

His father Dr Stephen Welden has not been accused of wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crime. He told 20/20: 'Throughout his life, he has been singularly the most kind, thoughtful, compassionate of all my children,' Welden was also recorded on jailhouse phone calls threatening to smear Lee's reputation and told Miss Fillinger that she didn't have to testify in the case, according to court documents.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2547135/Fertility-doctors-son-gave-girlfriend-abortion-pill-woman-sentenced-14-years-jail.html

What an asshat.

[GandD 5,966]

Yeah he is.

I wonder which way this thread is gonna go?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I have a few guesses.

[lostinblue 1,989]

If the mother did not want the baby ...planned parenthood would have assisted in the death of the child.

The father did not want the baby ... Did the same thing as planned parenthood and will serve years in jail.

Should not both parents have the same rights?.... The same say so .. ?

The mother could have taken the same pill bought a few weeks prior to this ..(good to go). No Jail time.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You're seriously confused by this aren't you LIB.

The ultimate decision to abort lies with the mother, it has to. Otherwise you're giving a third party the right to control what happens to someone else's body. That is slavery.

[Peikko 1,575]

Well, that worked out well. He committed a crime to hide a pregnancy and now not only his second girl friend knows about the pregnancy, the whole world knows. Brilliant!

[Darnell 8,478]

pregnant mom was a stripper and she met the father there, at day 0.

Stellar !

[lostinblue 1,989]

If it is no crime for the woman to destroy the baby then it should be no crime for the man.

If it is a crime for the man then any woman who kills her baby should get the same number of years I thought you liberals would be "enlightened" ... All the sudden it is a war on men.

[Darnell 8,478]

is it? men in general?

i only thought it was a story of a rich kid who had a long term relationship with some lass,

and picked up some @ss on the side at a strip club.

Sure, he got the stripper pregnant, and thought he had enough money to do something,

but I wouldn't lump him into all 'men', at the moment.

Note his sentencing was reduced because of a plea bargain deal. Who can do that? A lawyer, paid by the father.

This 'man' is an @sshat. I would not want him group into a gaggle of men that I associate with.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Darnell

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

If it is no crime for the woman to destroy the baby then it should be no crime for the man.

If it is a crime for the man then any woman who kills her baby should get the same number of years I thought you liberals would be "enlightened" ... All the sudden it is a war on men.

I think you are suffering from a severe deficit of logic.

Poisoning someone is a crime. Start with that.

[JohnR! 5,495]

If the mother did not want the baby ...planned parenthood would have assisted in the death of the child.

The father did not want the baby ... Did the same thing as planned parenthood and will serve years in jail.

If the mother wanted to terminate the pregnancy, she could have had an abortion. She did not want to terminate it, which means nobody else has the right to. The same would have been true if the fetus presented a life risk to the mother and a doctor recommended an abortion as a means to save the mother's life. The doctor would not have had the legal right to terminate the pregnancy without the mother's consent. It is really not all the complicated.

[lostinblue 1,989]

If it is poison then all abortion pills should be withdrawn from the market ....Why should poison be so selective.on who takes it.

[lostinblue 1,989]

If the mother wanted to terminate the pregnancy, she could have had an abortion. She did not want to terminate it, which means nobody else has the right to. The same would have been true if the fetus presented a life risk to the mother and a doctor recommended an abortion as a means to save the mother's life. The doctor would not have had the legal right to terminate the pregnancy without the mother's consent. It is really not all the complicated.

The man should have that right also to decide if the baby should be killed the same as the mother.... It is a war on men otherwise....

[JohnR! 5,495]

If it is no crime for the woman to destroy the baby then it should be no crime for the man.

If it is a crime for the man then any woman who kills her baby should get the same number of years I thought you liberals would be "enlightened" ... All the sudden it is a war on men.

In this case the crime is that this guy terminated a pregnancy without the woman's consent. The key word being 'consent', or rather, lack thereof. You might also consider the option of reading the copy the OP used, where you will find more pertinent details that might help you form an educated opinion.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Gegel

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

If it is poison then all abortion pills should be withdrawn from the market ....Why should poison be so selective.on who takes it.

Do you honestly believe that this makes sense?

If someone dumps a load of paracetamol in your coffee destroying your liver, should over the counter painkillers be banned?

No.