MANHATTAN — Joy White and Carl Tyson, parents of Carlina White, the infant stolen from Harlem Hospital when she was 19-days-old in 1987, sat in stunned disbelief as a Manhattan federal judge allowed kidnapper Ann Pettway (pictured), 51, to escape the mandatory 20-year minimum sentence after copping a 10-year plea deal, reports the New York Post.

After snatching Carlina from the hospital, Pettway convinced her family in Bridgeport, Connecticut that she gave birth to the baby before moving to Atlanta and raising the girl as her own for 23 years.

Carlina’s parents said that the sentence was a miscarriage of justice and that Pettway knew that she got off easy: “She can’t even look me in the f—king eye,” a furious Tyson said as the baby-snatcher left the courtroom.

White said that Pettway should serve at least as much time as their daughter had been missing before she tracked them down last year:
“I think she should serve at least 23 years, just like my daughter was missing 23 years,” she said.

The distraught mother said that she’ll “never forget” Pettway comforting her in the hospital when she bought baby Carlina in with a raging fever: “She came up to me and said, ‘Don’t cry. Your baby is going to be OK,’ ” White said outside the Manhattan federal court. “And she patted me on my shoulder . . . and she preyed on me. She is so mean. She is so cruel.”

Tyson described himself as so “pissed right about now” as he angrily left the courtroom: “It wasn’t what I expected,” he said. “Give her 23 years and you’ll make me happy.”

Pettway will be sentenced May 17.