Police say a 31-year-old woman took her three young children to a Lincoln hospital and said someone needed to take them from her or she would kill them.
Officer Katie Flood said the mother has not been charged with anything and has been admitted to the hospital for treatment.
The children -- boys ages 2 and 3 and a girl, 4 -- were turned over to Child Protective Services.
"A year or two years ago, this would have been a safe haven case," Flood said.
But in November 2008 -- months after the state attracted national attention for a safe haven law that allowed caregivers to surrender a child of any age without fear of prosecution for abandonment -- lawmakers restricted it to babies 30 days old or younger.
Lawmakers said they had intended to keep newborns from being abandoned in Dumpsters or other unsafe, out-of-the-way places.
Still, Flood said, the woman in this case did the right thing by going to a hospital for help, even though the safe haven law didn't apply.
In court records, Officer Scott Parker said the woman took her children to BryanLGH Medical Center West on Sunday "by her own accord, saying someone needed to take her children from her or she would kill them."
Parker said the woman said she planned to drive her car into a lake, with the children inside the vehicle, but didn't want them to suffer because of her situation.
She said she is unemployed and unable to provide for them. Their father is in jail on suspicion of felony child abuse for spanking one of his sons with a piece of wood.
According to court records, the woman was taken into Emergency Protective Custody because of her suicidal and homicidal thoughts.
Flood said parents in similar situations should seek help whether it's through a trusted friend or family member "or, like she did, going to the hospital or another professional."
http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_9c80904b-3c5f-5873-bf68-0f0706d49056.html#ixzz1QI7leQclOfficer Katie Flood said the mother has not been charged with anything and has been admitted to the hospital for treatment.
The children -- boys ages 2 and 3 and a girl, 4 -- were turned over to Child Protective Services.
"A year or two years ago, this would have been a safe haven case," Flood said.
But in November 2008 -- months after the state attracted national attention for a safe haven law that allowed caregivers to surrender a child of any age without fear of prosecution for abandonment -- lawmakers restricted it to babies 30 days old or younger.
Lawmakers said they had intended to keep newborns from being abandoned in Dumpsters or other unsafe, out-of-the-way places.
Still, Flood said, the woman in this case did the right thing by going to a hospital for help, even though the safe haven law didn't apply.
In court records, Officer Scott Parker said the woman took her children to BryanLGH Medical Center West on Sunday "by her own accord, saying someone needed to take her children from her or she would kill them."
Parker said the woman said she planned to drive her car into a lake, with the children inside the vehicle, but didn't want them to suffer because of her situation.
She said she is unemployed and unable to provide for them. Their father is in jail on suspicion of felony child abuse for spanking one of his sons with a piece of wood.
According to court records, the woman was taken into Emergency Protective Custody because of her suicidal and homicidal thoughts.
Flood said parents in similar situations should seek help whether it's through a trusted friend or family member "or, like she did, going to the hospital or another professional."
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