Gone Baby Gone
At 7:30 on a Monday morning, a teenage girl holding a newborn baby approached a bus stop in Sacramento. The bus stop is only a few miles from the California state capitol building, where a law called the “SSB” was enacted—the safely surrendered baby law. The SSB allows a desperate mother to give up an unwanted baby within three days of birth, no questions asked, no prosecution for child abandonment, and hopefully no infant left in a trash dumpster, the kind of tragic scenario the law was designed to discourage.
So when the teenager—strawberry blond and about 16—appeared at the bus stop and asked a kind stranger to hold her baby while she fixed a bottle, perhaps she thought she was doing the right thing as she slipped away forever…safely surrendering her infant son. The stranger called the police. The police took the 7 pound boy to a hospital, where he was determined to be in good health, one to two days old.
But even though the police initially said the teenager tried to “do the right thing”, the law says she can be arrested and prosecuted for felony child endangerment because the only legally recognized SSB sites in Sacramento are hospital emergency rooms and fire stations. Bus stops don’t qualify. So the police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the teenage mother, who could go to jail for essentially choosing a bus stop over a dumpster.
If doing the right thing in this case wasn’t the legal thing, is the greater failure with the mother or the law?
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what happens now
I wonder, how does the mother decision to leave the baby at the bus stop impact on finding a home for the baby. Does this mean that now the search is on and they will try reunification and all that lovely stuff that children’s services like to claim they do? Is there something included in the law that allows for immediate termination of parental rights so the baby can find a home or is there still a waiting period with involvement of the birth mother. When you think about all the possibilities that exist maybe for her it was the best choice. And maybe, she did not know about the law. How do you find out about laws like this? You watch tv, or read newspapers or are informed by prenatal care provider, but what if these were not available for her? Maybe a better education/notification of safe havens for giving up your baby.
nance | 1 year, 7 months ago
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The fact of the matter is, this girl had options and choices, much better one’s than handing her baby over to a stranger at the bus stop. So because she didn’t kill her baby or throw it in a dumpster she should be immune from punishment? What kind of society do we live in where people really think this is ok? First off, lets just say this girl had no clue what-so-ever that she could have left the baby at the hospital where she gave birth, or with the police or at a fire station. Lets just say that she never heard those options on the news or in school or through friends. So because of her ignorance she should not have to face the consequences of her actions? Wrong, because next time she decides to get pregnant and leave that baby somewhere perhaps she’ll think about it and take the baby to a safe place. The problem with our country and society today is that shrugging our shoulders and letting these types of actions slide is what leads to the inconsequential behavior of so many teens these days. It is our responsibility to deal with the consequences of our actions. She abandoned her baby! So because she left the baby at a bus stop instead of a garbage can or alley she did the right thing? This isn’t about judging her, it’s about the poor choice she made. Now she has to deal with those poor choices. It’s obvious she’s made poor choices from the beginning, not just her actions at the bus stop.
Steph | 1 year, 7 months ago
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Gone baby gone
My only information is the above article and I am writing this right after the Texas debacle. This girl needs to be found for many reasons. She is old enough and I would assume that she can read and understand the English language. I live in Wisconsin and I’ve heard of the safe harbor law in California. And as many people have found out the hard way, ignorance of the law is no excuse. Handing a child to a stranger is just plain criminal. However, if this girl was that desperate there may be extenuating circumstances. She needs counseling and then some kind of appropriate discipline. There is the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. The proper authorities need to hear her side of the story. This child should be placed in a safe and stable environment. However I also have misgivings about placing a child in any foster care in any state of this union. I’ve heard enough horror stories to wonder if that stranger wouldn’t be a better choice for the safety of this particular baby.
Ann Dennis | 1 year, 7 months ago
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What?
I ask you the same question as before, Who will talk to the child? It makes me sick that we need to go ask this girl who had sex and got pregnant what her side of the story is. Who will ask the child what his is? And where the hell are these girls parents at? How could you not know that your 15 year old daughter is pregnant, and think nothing of it when the baby disappears? Was this girl homeless? Did she get raped? These are questions that we need to ask, but regardless of the answers her actions can not be condoned.
Jamie | 1 year, 7 months ago
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Reply to 'What?'
If you believe in spirits inhabiting a physical body then the baby has some idea of what is going on in its short life. I find that a little horrifying to be helpless and not know what’s coming next, but every person in the world has to face it at some level. The child is innocent and we know his/her story. We know all of it. Hopefully wiser heads will give this baby the life it deserves and honesty about what happened. I agree, where are this girl’s parents? AND where is the father of this baby. Especially if we are going to cry for blood why should the father be given a pass? This girl didn’t have sex by herself and getting pregnant still requires two people. So let’s also hold the father, the four grandparents and the mother criminally responsible. Will that solve the problem? Unfortunately not. I think we need to face the fact that we can’t save all the babies, starving people, sick animals,etc. in the world and concentrate on doing the best we can. Some words I remember from a TV series many years ago when a black woman was asked ‘where do we start and what do we do?’ Her answer was: ‘We start where we are and do what we can. Let’s make sure the baby gets a good home and grows up strong and confident and loved. The people who failed this baby will get theirs when its time.
Ann Dennis | 1 year, 7 months ago
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safe harbor?
As an adult, I know that safe harbor laws exist in many states. I do not know which states have them and which do not. I could find this info out because as i said I am an adult and I think like an adult. This girl in question is a child, I don’t care that she may 15 or 16 or 17. For all we know she is only 13. The fact of the matter is that she is a child and as a child she thinks like a child. Would a child know about safe harbor laws? Probably not. I daresay that if I were to ask my 17 year old daughter about safe harbor she would think i was talking about the ocean or something. That doesn’t mean she is stupid. It just means that she is a child with “more important “things on her mind,” you know, like boys, clothes, music etc. As an adult, i realize that these things are not important in the overall scheme of things, but as a child they are the most important things in my life. That is why laws exist for juveniles that are different than the saw for adults. well not really the law per se, but the punishment for the breaking of said law. You sometimes need to put yourself in the child’s shoes. Frequently children do not see options for events that come so easily to adults. We do not need to judge by our standards, but rather we need to try and understand the situation and realize that for many children what is so obvious to us is completely unknown to them. Did any of you think that maybe this child was doing what she thought was for the best of the child. Maybe her home if she had one was horrible and she could see no way out for her baby but to do what she did. it is real easy to look on this incident and say she could have, should have done different because i as the all powerful and knowing adult would have done it differently. That is the whole point . She is a child, not an adult.
nance | 1 year, 7 months ago
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Safe Harbor? Reply
With respect to the above comment, I fail to see how that is ‘the whole point’.
Who exactly are you to decide who should bare the brunt of the laws designed to protect us? So if she’s too young she shouldn’t be held responsible for her actions or their consequences, but enjoy all the freedoms our society gives to people who do accept them? What about poor people? Should they be aloud to rob you or kill you if they’re too young? And kids underage drinking and driving who might run you or me over? They deserve protection from those mean nasty members of society who don’t?
No, if someone is able to perform an act they have to accept responsibility for that act and the consequences. You can feel bad for them, have mercy on them, have sympathy. But otherwise it’s not responsibility or justice.
I’m not judging the girl. In fact I know nothing about her. She could be the sweetest thing on earth. I’m not judging her. I’m judging her act. And frankly in absence of any facts people want to bend over backwards to come up with reasons to make it okay. What her actions speak of are not concern for someone else. They’re persuing the minimum effort with the minimum risk to relieve this girl of responsibility at the expense of everyone around her. We don’t know her background, her parents, her reasons… that’s what a trial is for.
Frankly, I find this constant equivocating, making excuses, etc., to speak more of the people doing it than the case at hand. Responsibility sometimes is yes and no, black and white. It might sound nice to say otherwise. But if this girl is run over by a sixteen year old drunk driver tomorrow, or robbed or raped by a sixteen year old boy, tell me then about “The whole point”.
Justin M | 1 year, 7 months ago
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Safe Harbor?
The last poster said it perfectly…‘if someone is able to perform an act they have to accept responsibility and consequences.’
This young woman is not a child and must face the consequences of her actions. From a legal standpoint it does not matter where her parents, the father of the child, teachers, clergy, friends, etc. might be. She made the choice and should have to deal with that now. From a social level yes, we should question where all those people are in her life, but, regardless of how involved or knowledgeable they are of the situation, they are not the ones to be persecuted here. If they were aware of her intent then that’s a different story but we can only go off of what we know from the original story (think like a jury here).
What we know is that this young woman asked a complete stranger at a bus stop to hold her baby while she made a bottle and then she abandoned the baby. Those are the facts, based on those facts; she should be charged and found guilty for child abandonment, child endangerment and any other applicable charge. Depending on how much sympathy one can feel for her is irrelevant when it comes to the charges. Prosecution and sentencing, well that’s a different story.
Steph | 1 year, 7 months ago
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Changing the subject doesn't change the stated sit
We need to step back and look at this situation calmly. It doesn’t require fast action and I respect all of the opinions I’ve read so far. The problem, again, is no one knows what the facts are behind the abandonment of this child. A pertinent point is the fact that if you are accused of a crime by a ‘dirty cop’ and are forced to defend yourself against that authority you haven’t committed a crime. People need facts. This girl, no matter the situation, has proven she cannot make good choices and if I were in a position to do so I would end her rights to this child. The fact she gave up the child in the first place says she can’t or won’t take care of it if she is reunited with her son. But should that end her life as a citizen of the USA? We are innocent until proven guilty and when we serve a sentence handed down by a judge we are considered good to go. Finding and holding this girl responsible for her actions is not and never should be persecution. And she has a right to defend herself. Again I wonder where the other people in her life are. If she is alone in the world then maybe the foster care system itself has either failed her or made her a victim.
Directly to Steph, I agree with you, but there is the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. And even if the laws we enact by our agreement of lack of opposition don’t work the way we expect we need to make them work or void them by taking political action.
Another point I’d like to make is that I work with all ages of children and I’m often impressed by them. I know sixteen year olds that can hold conversations about Greek and Roman history and have opinions on fashion and politics alike. We can’t say this sixteen year old girl didn’t know what she was doing. The only thing we can guess at was she felt cornered or was selfish and we won’t know until she is found and interviewed.
Ann Dennis | 1 year, 7 months ago
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Y'all are trippin', lolol
A good portion of the people commenting here need to be absolutely ashamed of themselves for even passing judgment on this girl without even knowing ALL of the story and/or factors.
I’ve read all 99-something comments and not too many even considered the possibilities of why she did what she did. Maybe the baby was a result of a molestation or rape. Maybe she didn’t have her own parents available in her life, indicating why she may have felt inadequate for parenting.
Maybe she had some cognitive issues or other medical issues affecting her judgment. Maybe she didn’t even give birth in a hospital since the baby was only 1-2days old.
People want to scream there righteousness (be it religious or self-proclaimed) about her choices. If you want to give her credit for being adult enough to have sex and carry the baby full term, then also give her credit for scouting out someone she knew would do the right thing with the baby, which that person DID. And don’t forget while all of you guys are saying “strangers aren’t what they used to be” that YOU ARE THE STRANGERS in the world. And the overwhelming majority of us aren’t psycho pedophiles and murderers; it’s pretty safe to say that the average adult who was given a baby like that would take the child to the appropriate place.
We can’t afford to persecute the world for all of our “woulda, shoulda, couldas”…else the people who ALMOST had accidents would have tickets and higher insurance. The people who ALMOST broke a law and changed their mind would still get punishment.
Important thing is that the baby is alive, healthy, and safe. Our police have better things to do with this ever-decaying society and our tax money (don’t even get me STARTED on that) than hunting down some scared poopless 16yo who relinquished a baby in a train station.
Yeah, the baby may grow up one day and just feel that was a jacked up decision, BUT it could’ve been disposed of in less savory ways and never have lived to complain about the life they have at all. In this day and age of “choices” (I’m staying out of that debate because it really doesn’t even belong in the blog), we ALL need to be grateful for the life we have— the breath in our lungs and the pulse in our veins.
Its not negating responsibility to see the baby in better hands although her judgment had flaw, especially when you think about life through a 16yo’s eyes and examine what “responsibility” is from that perspective. For those of you who believe ill of this girl, maybe you should learn some lessons on grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
I personally would only charge her if something were to have happened to the baby after she passed it along.
Mia | 1 year, 6 months ago
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