Woman who left newborn appears

A 20-year-old woman regrets leaving her newborn baby in a church restroom last week and wants the girl returned to her, Anaheim Police Sgt. Rick Martinez said Friday.

Martinez said the mother met with a police detective and a victim’s advocate Thursday after responding to a plea from police to contact authorities. She was questioned, and police will not know if she and the baby will be reunited until an investigation is completed, he said.

“We will work with the Orange County Department of Social Services to do what’s best for her and the child. It’s a heartbreaking story,” he said, adding that the baby is in the custody of Social Services and in good condition.

Martinez said the woman arrived from Mexico about six months ago and lives with a relative in Anaheim. On Sept. 14 she went to a service at St. Boniface Catholic Church and left the 2-day-old in a restroom. The baby was in a car seat and wrapped in a blanket. The mother also left a bottle of formula.

“She was distressed and unable to care for the child,” Martinez said. “She agonized over what her options were, and she decided to take the child to what she thought was the safest place, an occupied church.”

According to a state website, www.babysafe.ca.gov, parents or people with lawful custody can surrender a baby without fear of prosecution at a hospital emergency room, designated fire station or sites the county designates. The only other acceptable location in Orange County is Orangewood Children’s Home in Orange.

A baby can be surrendered within three days of birth.

Social Services spokeswoman Terry Lynn Fisher said that when a baby is legally relinquished, parent and child are issued identifying bracelets, and a parent has 14 days to change his or her mind. In this case it is up to the woman to prove she is the mother, Fisher said.

Police, not social workers, determine whether mother and child will be reunited, she said.

“At this point, to my knowledge,” it’s the current case is “still a criminal matter in the hands of police,” Fisher said. Police did not release the mother’s name.

She stepped forward Wednesday after watching a news report about the baby on a Spanish-language television station. She contacted the reporter, who arranged a meeting with Anaheim police.

Martinez said the woman was questioned at the Anaheim Family Justice Center, designed to aid victims of child, sexual, domestic and elder abuse. The center is staffed by police, prosecutors and social service providers.

“She’s a soft-spoken woman who said she was trying to do the best thing,” he said. “She said she regretted her decision all along, but she didn’t know what options were available to her. We’re looking for a just resolution. The fact that she called a reporter is a good sign.”

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gil.reza@latimes.com