A baby boy, believed to be 1-3 days old, was found in the bushes outside a Pompano Beach church. (CBS4)
POMPANO BEACH (CBS4) – A woman picking up her child at a Pompano Beach day care center got quite the surprise when she discovered a days-old baby boy in the hedges of a nearby church.
Cloaked in a blue blanket, the sleeping infant was dressed in a onesie and a diaper and appeared to be unharmed, according to Broward Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Mike Jachles.
Upon discovering the baby, the woman ran into the Queen’s Little Angels Child Care center at 210 NE 1st Street, and called police.
“He was beautiful,” day care owner Nicole Carter said. “He was sound asleep. He has no clue what’s going on.”
The baby was transported to Holy Cross Hospital and is listed in good condition. BSO deputies are currently looking for the baby’s mother.
Police say the infant appears to be 1-3 days old and is not believed to have been born in a medical facility.
Jacqueline Saxon drives the child care’s van. She says the parent who found the boy waved her down in the street to report the find. Saxon says she called 911. She still can’t believe someone abandoned the child and she wonders what would have happened to the child if that parent hadn’t found him.
“Anywhere besides the ground in the boiling sunlight — a church, fire station, hospital,” she said.
In fact, there’s one church directly across from the parking lot and another church just down the street. There are also two child care centers within view. Investigators say the child is in good shape but the women who helped rescue him say he was warm and his mouth was dry.
The Department of Children and Families has taken custody of the baby and will attend a shelter hearing at the Broward County courthouse Friday morning.
“Maybe the mom was scared,” Carter said. “She didn’t know what to do. So that’s the only thing I could think of. Maybe she didn’t know she could drop the baby at the fire station.”
BSO reiterated the effectiveness of Florida’s Safe Haven laws, which allows parents to drop off their infants, up to a week old, in a safe place like a hospital or fire station without fear of prosecution.
Click here for more information or call 1-877-767-BABY (2229) for a toll-free, multilingual help line. It’s staffed 24 hours a day and all calls are confidential.
