MADISON, Neb. (KMTV) — Celeste Burgess, the young woman who — along with her mother —has been accused of being involved in an illegal abortion, appeared in court Monday morning. Solidifying the dates for when she will return for her trial.
According to court documents, Celeste allegedly gave birth to a stillborn child sometime during the night of April 22. Prosecutors believe Celeste and her mother then burned and buried the fetus.
Celeste is being charged with concealing the death of another person, providing false information and improper disposal of human skeletal remains.
“Abortions I don’t think are unusual in Nebraska but certainly at that stage they need protection from that,” said Madison County Attorney Joe Smith.
Smith says he has submitted evidence in the case that shows Celeste was around 29 weeks pregnant when she gave birth to the stillborn.
Much of the evidence in the case comes in the form of Facebook messages sent between Celeste in her mother where they discussed what medication to take to abort the fetus.
Facebook’s decision to provide the messages to law enforcement has garnered national attention but Smith says it's common to search social media.
“Our experience, not just in this case, generally is that people share things on social media that they wouldn’t share otherwise," said Smith.
Celeste is scheduled to appear in court again for a pre-trial conference on September 26 and her trial will begin on November 14.
RELATED: A Norfolk mother and daughter are facing charges after allegedly aborting a fetus and burying them
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