Widower "fell apart" and left his 9 children

OMAHA, Neb. — An out-of-work widower who abandoned nine of his children at a hospital under Nebraska's new safe-haven law said he was overwhelmed without his wife and just "fell apart."

"I hope they know I love them," Gary Staton told KETV. "I hope their future is better without me around them."

The unique law allows parents to abandon children as old as 18 at state-certified hospitals without fear of prosecution. Originally intended to protect infants, it was expanded in a legislative compromise to protect any "child." Some have interpreted that to mean anyone younger than 19.

Staton anonymously left the five boys and four girls — ages 1 to 17 — at Creighton University Medical Center's emergency room Wednesday night. He has a 10th child, a daughter who is 18 and was not dropped off.

A number of relatives have volunteered to take the siblings, said Kathie Osterman, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Employees were doing required background checks Friday in hopes of placing the children in the next few days, she said.

Staton said his wife died last year, shortly after delivering their youngest child. He said he quit his job because of his family responsibilities but couldn't pay rent or utilities or take care of his children.

"I was with her for 17 years, and then she was gone," he said of his late wife. "What was I going to do? We raised them together. I didn't think I could do it alone. I fell apart. I couldn't take care of them."

Staton said he surrendered them so they would be safe.

A call Friday to a number listed for Staton went unanswered.

A 2007 interview with Staton's oldest daughter in Omaha North High School's student newspaper said she shouldered some of the parenting duties. Despite helping to feed her siblings, check their homework and put them to bed, the teen graduated a year early.

At least 16 children have been abandoned since the law took effect in July.

Todd Landry, director of the division of Children and Family Services, said the safe-haven law was designed to help children who are in danger, but none of the children who were dropped off had been in harm's way.

In addition to Staton's children, two unrelated boys were left Wednesday at a different Omaha hospital.

Landry said he empathizes with parents who struggle to raise their families, but "it is the job of a parent to be a parent." He said there are resources to help them.

Once a child is abandoned under the safe-haven law, the courts become involved. Parental rights don't end automatically, but parents who change their minds about abandonment may find it difficult to regain custody.

Hospitals call police when a child is left, and officers usually place a child in protective custody. Then the county attorney determines whether a child should be allowed to return home and makes a recommendation to a judge.

"If we see another family being left off, then we're going to have to do something immediately," said state Sen. Arnie Stuthman, who introduced legislation that was the basis for the law.

Stuthman said lawmakers need to set a maximum age for children who can be handed over to the state, and he's not sure it can wait until the Legislature reconvenes in January.

It's not clear whether Gov. Dave Heineman will call a special session to modify the law, even though he has said it should be changed.