ELYRIA — A baby girl supposedly born during Sunday night’s Super Bowl game was dropped off at EMH Regional Medical Center early Monday by a woman who said her teenage brother could not care for the infant.

The 22-year-old woman told police she was called to take the child to the hospital because her brother, 18, and the baby’s mother, 19, already have a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old child at home and could not care of a third baby, a police report said.

The baby was about 4 hours old when she was dropped off. She had no signs of abuse or injury, and she remained at the hospital overnight Monday, police Lt. Andy Eichenlaub said.

The matter is not being viewed as criminal abandonment at this time as the case may fit the criteria for Ohio’s Safe Haven law, Eichenlaub said.

But because the child was brought in by a relative, it will be up to Lorain County Children Services to determine if the parents truly wish to surrender the child, he said.

The county agency is aware of the situation and investigating, spokeswoman Patti-Jo Burtnett said.

“I can’t discuss the custody status of children. Once ( Lorain County Juvenile Court) makes a determination that this is a Safe Haven situation, we will proceed accordingly,” Burtnett said.

The agency’s policy for handling such cases is lengthy and includes determining if the child was abused or neglected, if the parents want to provide any medical information about the child, as well as placing the infant with a foster-to-adopt family until a court order determines placement of the child, Burtnett said.

The Safe Haven Law, which was enacted in Ohio in 2001, allows a parent — without fear of prosecution — to drop-off an unharmed newborn who is not more than 72 hours old to a medical worker at a hospital, with a peace officer at a law enforcement agency or at an emergency service organization.

The goal is to give desperate mothers and fathers an alternative to abandoning a baby they can’t care for.

That was the case with a newborn boy whose body was found in a water-filled quarry in 1999 by a recreational diver.  The baby, who came to be known as Baby Boy Hope, was the son of Jessica Coleman.

Her identity remained unknown to authorities until, while on a trip to Florida ,she confessed to a friend and was subsequently charged with the crime in 2005.

Coleman, now in prison, is an advocate for the Safe Haven program because without it more parents could resort to the kind of measures that ultimately resulted in the death of her child.

The law does not require parents to provide any personal information, but they are asked to voluntarily fill out a medical history questionnaire.

Since the law was enacted, three other infants have been surrendered in Lorain County, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Service. One infant was surrendered in 2001, and another two were surrendered in 2007.

Statewide, the latest figures available from the department suggest a total of

54 newborn babies have been safely surrendered. The figure is based on a recent survey of Ohio’s county public children service agencies.

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.

 

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