17-Year-Old Boy is 23rd Child Abandoned at Neb. Hospital

OMAHA, Neb. – A 17-year-old boy was confirmed Wednesday as the 23rd child abandoned under the state's unique safe-haven law, as the governor prepared to address changes in the law.

State officials said the boy's stepfather and mother took him to BryanLGH Medical Center West in Lincoln late Tuesday and that the boy was in state care.

Lincoln Police Capt. Jim Thoms said the parents told officers the boy wouldn't follow their rules and that they couldn't afford some programs he needed.

Nebraska's safe-haven law is the only one in the country that lets caregivers leave children as old as 18 at a state-licensed hospital without fear of prosecution for the abandonment.

The law was intended to protect infants, but it failed to define "child" in its wording.

Gov. Dave Heineman called a news conference Wednesday and said he would address the safe-haven law. His spokeswoman would not confirm whether Heineman would be calling a special session to change the law.

A majority of state senators have agreed to revise the law so that only infants up to 3 days old could be dropped off.

Heineman had said on Sept. 18, after only two older children had been abandoned, that the laws should be changed.

Todd Landry, director of the Department of Health and Human Services, Children and Family Services Division, confirmed Wednesday that the 17-year-old boy was the 23rd left at a Nebraska hospital under the law.

Other children have been taken to hospitals for abandonment but soon went back home after parents or caregivers were given guidance or other help by police and hospital officials.