"John Doe" - 1 to 3 days - Pompano Beach FL

Abandoned baby boy to remain in state custody, investigators search for parents

5:48 p.m. EST, February 22, 2013

A Broward County judge granted legal custody of an abandoned newborn to the state Friday, less than 24 hours after the sleeping baby boy was discovered near the hedges lining a Pompano Beach parking lot.

Diapered and swaddled in a blanket with a pacifier in his mouth and his umbilical cord still attached, the 1- to 3-day-old infant, now known as John Doe, was found in the lot between two Pompano Beach churches.

"The child has been abandoned or is in imminent danger of illness or injury as a result of abandonment and there are no known parents at this time," Broward Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Scherer said at a brief Friday afternoon hearing.

The baby, who does not appear to have been born in a hospital, is in good health at Holy Cross Hospital, social workers told the judge.

Investigators are "diligently looking for the parents," Susan Mallow, of the Broward Sheriff's Office's Child Protective Investigative Services, told the judge.

Once the baby is released from Holy Cross, he will be placed in foster care, Paige Patterson-Hughes, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Children & Families, said.

A parent picking up her child from Queen's Little Angels childcare center near Northeast Second Avenue and Second Street noticed the baby at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

"He was beautiful, sound asleep," Nicole Carter, director of the childcare center, told WFOR-Ch-4. "Maybe the mom was scared. She didn't know what to do. That's the only thing that I can think of."

But there is another option, free of legal consequences, for parents who do not want to keep a newborn.

Florida's Safe Haven law allows a person to anonymously give an unharmed child who is 7 days old or younger to a fire station or hospital with no questions asked.

"This law was passed in order to prevent what happened yesterday," Nick Silverio, a spokesman for A Safe Haven for Newborns program said Friday. "By the grace of God the people found that baby in the nick of time."

A baby boy given to Coral Springs firefighters on Jan. 31 became the 187^th infant surrendered since the law's inception in 2000.
Broward County, with 24 of the 187 surrendered infants, tops the state for the most Safe Haven babies, Silverio said. The babies do not go into foster care or state custody but rather to a private, licensed adoption agency, he said.

The organization also operates a 24-hour help line in English, Spanish and Creole at 877-767-2229.

"The goal is to get moms help who feel there is no help and there is nowhere to turn," Silverio said. "If you're pregnant and hiding your pregnancy and don't know what to do, call Safe Haven."


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-abandoned-baby-folo-20130222,0,5841945.story

Sad that someone would just throw away a little angel. There are plenty of people with love to take him. Just breaks my heart. William

They need to make the Safe Haven law known to all. Posters should be put up in schools.

So many people would love to adopt a newborn baby, this is heartbreaking and sinful.