Police continue search for mother of abandoned baby

Last Update: 8/29 7:48 pm

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(WSYR-TV) Syracuse, New York (WSYR-TV) - Syracuse police continue searching for the mother who abandoned a newborn baby in some bushes along the 1500 block of South Avenue early Thursday evening. A six-year-old girl and her grandmother were playing hide-and-seek near a vacant lot when the little girl made the discovery. She told her grandmother she found a doll. When the grandmother realized the doll was really a baby, police were called. The baby's umbilical cord was still attached and it's estimated the baby was less than an hour old. “There are safe places that people can leave a baby,” says Syracuse Police Sgt. Tom Connellan. “Leaving the baby in the bushes like that – if the baby hadn’t been found, it probably wouldn’t have survived for long.” The baby is in good condition at Crouse Hospital, but police say there was no need to put the baby's life in jeopardy. Police say the baby's mother will likely face charges. Police are urging anyone who may know the mother of the child to give them a call at 442-5222. All calls will be kept confidential. Safe haven law could have prevented abandonment The newborn's mother may not have known that she could have made a safer choice for the baby. For eight years now, a state law called the Abandoned Infant Protection Act allows a mom or dad who cannot care for a newborn to leave the infant anonymously and safely at a police or fire station or hospital. If the baby is five days old or less, and the parent makes prompt notification to an appropriate person, the law protects the mom or dad from prosecution for abandonment of a child. “The act of abandoning the baby is negated, if they leave it in one of those safe havens,” says Onondaga County senior assistant district attorney Rick Trunfio. “The reason for that is the antithesis of what happened here -- and that is abandoning the baby, almost secreting the baby, so that the baby has no chance of survival.” In the eight years since it's been the law, Trunfio says the Abandoned Infant Protection Act has saved the lives of several babies. “We don't see it every day, but we see it often enough, so you look back on this legislation and you say, ‘you know what, they did a good thing here,’ “ says Trunfio. The chief sponsor of the legislation was former Syracuse State Senator Nancy Larraine Hoffmann. To find out more about locations that are safe and protected under the law, contact your local district attorney’s office.