A newborn baby boy was left in a Christmas manger inside the Holy Child Jesus Catholic Church in Queens County, New York. The mother has been identified and interviewed by the authorities.
After a thorough review, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said the mother will not face charges under the 'safe haven' law, which states that a newborn child can be 'dropped off' at police station, fire station, hospital or church without fear of prosecution.
On Nov. 23, a church custodian left the church at 11:30 A.M. to grab lunch. He returned a little past 1:00 P.M. and heard a baby crying inside an empty church. When he inspected the Christmas manger, he saw a baby. On the church's Facebook page, pastor Christopher Heanue wrote that it was a baby boy who weighs just a little over five pounds. The newborn baby was immediately brought to a local hospital where doctors said he was in good health.
In relation to New York's safe haven law, the Abandoned Infant Protection Act requires authorities to be called immediately upon leaving a child at a designated place or that the child must be left with a person. In this case, the authorities were not called immediately and the baby was not entrusted to a person. Rather, the infant's discovery was all left to chance, thus leading authorities to search for the mother following a surveillance footage.
The surveillance video was taken from a 99-cent store two blocks away from the church. It showed a woman carrying a baby wrapped in a black jacket. She bought some purple towels from the store and left. The same towels were found in the church's nativity scene, wrapping the baby.
Brown shared that after a full investigation, the infant's mother followed the safe haven law's 'spirit' by ensuring that the baby would be found safely inside the church. The manger was the warmest place inside the Holy Child Jesus Church so she decided to place her baby inside. The following morning, the mother returned to ensure that her baby has been found.
"After a full review of all the facts and circumstances surrounding the discovery of a newborn infant this past Monday in a creche inside of Holy Child Jesus Church in the Richmond Hill section of Queens County -including locating and interviewing the mother - my office has determined that no criminal prosecution of the child's mother is warranted," said Brown.
