Mother of Mich. boy left in Neb. goes to court

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — The mother of the 13-year-old Michigan boy abandoned this week in Nebraska made her first appearance in court Friday as she and her husband battle to get back custody of their other three children.

Teri Martin, 38, showed no emotion as Oakland County family court referee Karla Mallett ruled that neither Martin nor her husband, Terrence Martin, 39, will have custody of any of the children at least until a Nov. 7 hearing on a neglect petition filed Wednesday.

At that hearing, the state is expected to move to terminate the parental rights to the 13-year-old while continuing to keep the other children in foster care.

The abandonment case may change Nebraska’s expansive and controversial safe haven law and could set legal precedence in Michigan for what can happen to parents who take children over state lines to abandon them.

“You don’t get to do that to a child. You’re a mother. You parent that child till that child is raised, till that child is grown,” Mallett said “It’s not a humane society for animals; he’s a child. You can’t take him there and say you’ll come back for him when he’s fixed.”

Martin left her son at an Omaha hospital with $10 and luggage at 1:30 a.m. Monday. The child told police his mother was stressed out and left him to teach him a lesson.

Nebraska officials said Martin showed remorse for leaving the child, but court papers tell a story of a child she never wanted.

Terrence Martin said in the petition that he and his wife were “railroaded” into adopting the boy out of foster care when he was about 4 years old, so that they could adopt his infant brother.

The Martins repeatedly tried to rescind their adoption of the boy, claiming he had emotional problems. But court records suggest the Martins did little, if anything, to seek help for the child’s behavioral issues. His middle school officials said he was within normal behavior for a teen.

“We get calls, 10 a week, for assistance for child behavior. That call was not made by you,” Mallett said.

Also in the petition was Teri Martin’s admission that she did not want her adopted sons but feared the loss of her other children if she tried to give them back.

The Martins will get weekly visitation with the three children in state custody in Michigan. The 13-year-old is at an emergency shelter in Nebraska, awaiting a court decision to send him back to Michigan.