New York City's safe haven law has just protected a mother from being prosecuted after she left her newborn baby in a nativity manger inside a church.
The safe haven law dictates that a newborn baby can be dropped off anonymously at a church, hospital, police or fire station without fearing prosecution, according to USA Today. However, the Abandoned Infant Protection Act also requires people to make sure that the child be left with someone or that authorities be informed about the baby's presence.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown believes that the mother's actions fall under the safe haven law, although police authorities believe otherwise.
"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," Brown said in a statement.
The baby was found around 11:30 a.m. on Monday by a custodian who left the empty chapel in order to get lunch. When he came back, it was already past 1 p.m., and he was unaware of the baby's presence until it started crying.
When he checked the nativity scene, he was surprised to discover that a newborn baby wrapped in towels was lying in the manger. According to the church parish priest Christopher Heanue, the baby was a boy and weighed a little over five pounds.
When emergency crew transferred the baby to a local hospital, he was reported to be in good health. This is the reason why the boy's mother should not be prosecuted, Brown said.
"It appears that the mother, in this case, felt her newborn child would be found safely in the church and chose to place the baby in the manger because it was the warmest place in the church, and further she returned the following morning to make certain that the baby had been found," Brown said.
