Father Seeks Custody of Baby Born in Plane Restroom

The husband of a woman accused of abandoning her newborn girl in the restroom of an airliner says he should be allowed to keep the baby despite the charges against his wife, his lawyer said.

Louis LoCasto, 26, “believes he is the father, and there is no reason to believe he is not,” said attorney Vicki Yeley, who is representing LoCasto in a custody fight with social workers.

Authorities said they will seek to have the baby kept out of the family’s custody.

The 8-pound, 9-ounce baby is in stable condition and is expected to be released today from Mills Memorial Hospital in San Mateo, 10 miles south of San Francisco, officials said.

She will be placed in a foster home until a court rules, said Robert McMillan, deputy director of the county’s child protective services office.

“We’ll make allegations regarding the behavior of the mother that resulted in the need for us to intervene on behalf of the child,” McMillan said.

Louis LoCasto appeared shaken at a news conference Friday after visiting the baby with his wife, Christina Marie LoCasto, 24, who pleaded innocent Thursday afternoon to felony charges of child endangerment and was released on $50,000 bail. If convicted, she faces up to six years in prison.

Christina LoCasto is accused of delivering the full-term baby in the lavatory of a United Airlines DC-10 just before it took off from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, where the couple and the family’s two other children planned to vacation.