Eleven children ranging in age from 1 to 17 were left at hospitals Wednesday under Nebraska’s unique safe haven law, which allows caregivers to abandon youngsters as old as 19 without fear of prosecution.
Nine of the children came from one family. The six boys and three girls were left by their father, who was not identified, at Creighton University Medical Center’s emergency room. Unrelated boys ages 11 and 15 also were surrendered Wednesday at Immanuel Medical Center.
State Sen. Arnie Stuthman said he introduced the bill intending to protect infants. In a compromise with senators worried about arbitrary age limits, the measure was expanded.
Abandoning teenagers was not the original intent of the law, Stuthman said Thursday.
“People are leaving them off just because they can’t control them,” he said. “They’re probably in no real danger, so it’s an easy way out for the caretaker.”
Hmmm…gotta hurt when mom and dad look at you, say they don’t want you anymore, and dump you…even if you are 15…
How do you face your wife, family, friends, or community after doing something like that?
I bet in some of these cases the children are told that they can’t be taken care of due to costs, and the family tie remains intact.
Too bad children aren’t allowed to work… I acknowledge coal mines are a bit tough on a growing boy, but mowing lawns, washing cars, or perhaps something similarly less demanding ought to be acceptable.
I cannot imagine this - dumping the children into the nefarious foster care (“abuse”) system, splitting up all the siblings, ... so many other options that MAY have been taken except for this child-dumping stupid “do-gooder” law!
Laurel, I knew the working age was around there, but it’s better that even younger boys work than it is to give them up to the state.
There’s the idea that working children is somehow evil… that a child’s early years need to be full of play time before he transforms into “adult” in which case he’s expected to work hard as only Americans do (many European countries don’t work our hours). Parents tell themselves that their children are “studying hard so they can get a good job” when in reality the children are wasting a lot of their time.
More on this case… at least it looks like the children will be sent to live with relatives.
The latest example happened Wednesday, when an out-of-work widower left nine of his 10 children at an Omaha hospital, saying he was overwhelmed by family responsibilities.
Gary Staton went to Creighton University Medical Center to surrender his five sons and four of his daughters, who ranged in age from 1 to 17. He did not bring his oldest daughter, 18.
Staton’s wife died in early 2007, shortly after giving birth to their 10th child. The man told police he hasn’t worked since July and was struggling to make ends meet.
“I was with her for 17 years, and then she was gone. What was I going to do?” Staton said to Omaha television station KETV. “We raised them together. I didn’t think I could do it alone. I fell apart. I couldn’t take care of them.”
Calls by The Associated Press to a number listed for Staton went unanswered Friday.
A number of relatives have volunteered to take the Staton siblings, said Kathie Osterman, a spokeswoman for the state department of Health and Human Services. She said the children may be temporarily placed with those family members until a judge decides on permanent custody.
Osterman said Staton never asked relatives for help 1
One has to have compassion for this man; however, he should have called family immediately, then his church.
A hundred or so years ago this gentleman’s situation was probably very common, and frequently a widower would remarry quickly after the death (usually in childbirth or of infectious disease) of his wife.
I’ve been in pioneer cemeteries in the midwest where you can see a very interesting arrangement of family headstones. Largest stone would be that of the husband, let’s call him John Merryman (made up name, OK?), aged 70 plus years. Next to his headstone would be a smaller headstone for his first wife, Amanda, who might have died in her mid-twenties. Frequently you will see a tiny headstone next to hers, Baby Merryman, aged one day, with the same death date as the first wife. Then there would be the second wife’s headstone, perhaps with a small baby’s stone as well, or just a record of her death at a relatively early age. And so on…
I saw one man who had no less than four wives, each had died in childbirth in her twenties, even though he’d remarried several times. A couple he’d only been married to for a few years, it seemed.
Having babies on the frontier is a hazardous thing.
I really feel for Mr. Staton, who abandoned his kids, but he really should have called family first, then his church.
God bless,
Laurel
[ Edited: 27 September 2008 12:25 AM by Laurel Loflund ]
Thank you, Faust, for posting an update - I hope they receive more family-positive resources and options. Sounds like an overwhelmed caregiver, and they suffer from PTSD, often losing the ability to make even one more decision. I’ve seen this many times in caregivers and post Katrina family members. They care and love their families, but prolonged physical and mental exhaustion lead to incapacitation.
One has to have compassion for this man; however, he should have called family immediately, then his church.
A hundred or so years ago this gentleman’s situation was probably very common, and frequently a widower would remarry quickly after the death (usually in childbirth or of infectious disease) of his wife.
I’ve been in pioneer cemeteries in the midwest where you can see a very interesting arrangement of family headstones. Largest stone would be that of the husband, let’s call him John Merryman (made up name, OK?), aged 70 plus years. Next to his headstone would be a smaller headstone for his first wife, Amanda, who might have died in her mid-twenties. Frequently you will see a tiny headstone next to hers, Baby Merryman, aged one day, with the same death date as the first wife. Then there would be the second wife’s headstone, perhaps with a small baby’s stone as well, or just a record of her death at a relatively early age. And so on…
I saw one man who had no less than four wives, each had died in childbirth in her twenties, even though he’d remarried several times. A couple he’d only been married to for a few years, it seemed.
Having babies on the frontier is a hazardous thing.
I really feel for Mr. Staton, who abandoned his kids, but he really should have called family first, then his church.
God bless,
Laurel
Compassion? 1 Timothy 5:8
When has Christ ever failed? Yet he could not trust in him and provide for his own? Martin Luther commented that God does not give you them without taking care for his own - why should we worry over the same thing? NO I have not compassion for someone who would ditch on their responsibility to their very household. Especially to deliver them into our enemies hand: the State.
KW, the link didn’t work. Can you wrap it by selecting the title of the piece, then clicking on the button that has the <a> on it, then pasting the link into that box?
