A Utah mother has been charged with child abandonment and abuse after she dropped off her 8-year-old son at a local hospital and left him there with a note saying she did not want him anymore. The woman, 36-year-old Kathy Sherrer of West Jordan, said she thought the Safe Havens law allowed parents to leave unwanted children at a hospital without penalty. A Division of Child and Family Services spokeswoman said that the law only applies to newborn infants, 1 to 3 days old.
On Feb. 21 the boy walked into the hospital carrying a note from his mother that said, “This kid is rude and ungovernable! I do not want him in my house at all!” It also said that the boy needed more help than she could provide for him.
After her arrest Sherrer told a local news channel she did not think she was a particularly bad mother, but just got overwhelmed and did not know what else to do. She said the boy was “calling me names, he was calling me the B word, he was pulling his pants down in public.” The boy’s mother said that she has four special-needs children at home and believed that the authorities would understand her situation.
The boy told hospital staff that his mother hit him with a spoon. He had a bruise on his arm.
The 8-year-old has been placed in foster care. His parents, who were separated, have gotten back together and the mother says she wants him back. The boy says he wants to return home. Sherrer said that she was told, however, that it would be at least 3 months before she could have her son back.
Sim Gill, Salt Lake City District Attorney, said that what the woman did was unacceptable, and that she should have used some of the legitimate resources that are available. There are crisis centers available that allow parents to drop off children at any time of the day or night, but that there are procedures that must be followed. Gil said a parent doesn’t get to simply say they’ve had enough, drop off their kid and leave with no one knowing who they are.
If convicted the woman could face 6 years in prison. Child abandonment is a third-degree felony and child abuse a class A misdemeanor.