Facebook gave Nebraska Police DM’s of a teenager on alleged abortion case

Seventeen-year-old Celeste Burgess, along with her mother Jessica Burgess is facing criminal charges alleging infringement of a Nebraska law banning abortions after 20. In one of the first instances ever, authorities obtained Facebook messages of the teenager and her mother with a search investigation warrant. Both the teenager and her mother is awaiting trial in Madison County District Court. 

Authorities charged Celeste and her mother in the month of July with allegedly removing, concealing or abandoning a dead human body and concealing the death of another person. The Northfolk Police Department received a tip that claimed Celeste had miscarried in April at 23 weeks of pregnancy. It was reported that Celeste had buried the fetus with her mother’s help. 

Celeste stated to the authorities that she suffered a miscarriage. However, the police still continued the investigation and served Facebook with a search warrant to access Celeste and Jessica’s Facebook messages. Following up on the search the authorities found messages between the mother and daughter that allegedly detailed Celeste undergoing a self-managed abortion with Jessica’s help. 

Meta Spokesperson , Andy Stone mentioned in a statement on Twitter that the valid search warrants from the local law enforcement in early June did not mention abortion. The warrants stated charges related to a criminal investigation. Additionally court documents indicated that the police at that time were investigating a case of a stillborn baby being burnt and buried, not a decision to have an abortion. Stone also added that Meta was forbidden from disclosing information about the search warrant by non-disclosure orders.