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After the city was moved by the story of a baby abandoned in the backseat of a livery cab and how the driver dropped off the baby at a fire house, prompting the police and media to look for the baby's relatives, it turns out the livery cab driver was involved in the abandonment scheme. Driver Klever Sailema was arrested today, as were another man and woman. Oh, no.
According to the police, "Sailema was part of a scheme by an overwhelmed Bronx family to abandon the child, who had been born to a teenage girl." Sailema, who had "agreed to help them turn the child over to the city," was charged with filing a false police report. The Daily News reports the baby was born to a 14-year-old girl, and that the sister of the baby's father confessed to plotting the scheme last night. Maria Siavichay, 21, was charged with child endangerment while Marcelo Vinansaca, 24, (it's unclear what relation he is to Siavichiy) was charged with giving false information to the police.
On Thursday, Sailema had claimed he picked up a man and the six-month old baby in Queens, but the man fled after claiming he needed to make a call on a payphone. His taxi union said it would reward him with a $300 thank you and the city Taxi and Limousine Commission hailed his actions, saying he would be commended this month. Sailema even helped the police create a sketch of the man who allegedly ran off.
The local media showed images of the adorable baby as much as possible, in hopes to helping the police identify relatives. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly pleaded with New Yorkers yesterday, holding up a photo of the child and saying, "It's a beautiful baby. The baby is in very good health, so anyone with information please give us a call." The NY Times has a brief interview with Sailema in today's paper, his imaginary fare "told me the mother left the baby. He said, ‘I can’t take care of my baby.'" and that he wondered "Gee, what do I do now?” after the fare didn't return.
The baby, named Lourdes by the hospital, is still in custody of ACS. And while it may be little known to people in desperate situations, NY State has an safe haven law: "Under the Abandoned Infant Protection Act, parents, guardians, or other legally responsible persons who are unable to care for their newborn infants may anonymously and safely leave their infant in the care of a responsible person at a hospital, police station, fire station or a responsible person at another safe location."
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This makes me sad, but at least the baby is safe.
It's sad that the bar for responsible behavior has been lowered this far, but I have to commend the family and driver (not-that-)Klever Sailema for coming up with a hare-brained plan to safely(?) surrender an infant, rather than throwing her in a dumpster.
The city used to have foundling centers for specifically these occasions and the state's done a good job of decriminalizing abandonment to deter infanticide. Lots of adoption offers have been pouring in to take care of this kid. It could have gone much worse for her.
i knew something was fishy about that driver.
also, i guess it's safe to say all of this will not happen:
*As a thank you, the NY Federation of Taxi Drivers will give driver Sailema $300. The AP reports he will also be honored by by the Taxi and Limousine Commission next month at the annual driver recognition ceremony*
FYI:
The driver of the car is an independent contractor affiliated with Tel-A-Car of New York, at 3055 Vernon Boulevard, in Astoria.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/man-abandons-infant-in-back-seat-of-limo/
sorry of this appears cynical but (a) not suprised, and (b) the reward was totally stupid, even before this latest revelation.
maybe instead we should reward children to not have sex until they are old enough and responsible enough to deal with the consequences.
I am sad for this little baby, but its probably best that she is no longer with a bunch of misfits who would eventually abuse or mistreat her.
I never really understood the reward. Making sure an abandoned baby gets to a hospital (or police station, etc.) seems like the humane thing to do, it's not really heroic.
Would even the coldest, most disinterested New Yorker see a baby by itself and just walk away?
I don't understand why they are arresting him if there is a Safe Haven law. I can understand for the lying, but this really would seem to scare people who must use that Haven law. Is it for the lying that they are arresting him? Can someone explain it to me?
Nevermind, I didn't see the part where they filed a false police report. My bad.
When this story first posted the other day one of Gothamist's commentators intuitively called it right on - that the driver was somehow involved. Nice one.
The Safe Haven law, I believe, only offers protection if the baby is fewer than 5 or 6 days old. This is just plain old child abandonment, but yes, I agree; it sure beats throwing the kid into a Dumpster.
I still think that they should overlook the false police report, and try to find some mercy for the people who wanted to do the right thing, but are unclear on the concept and laws surrounding safe have laws.
A 14-year-old mother, zheesh. MERCY.
Yeah, I don't think the law applies to a six-month old.
The safe haven law refers to children under 30 days old. For children this age, ACS and family court will still work with parents to put the child in foster care and later adoption. The problem is, people don't know.
The Abandoned Infant Protection Act creates an affirmative defense* to prosecution for Abandonment of a child under Penal Law section 260.00, where the parent, guardian, or other legally responsible person intended to abandon a child who is not more than five days old, providing that the parent, guardian, or other legally responsible person:
*intended that the child be safe from physical injury and cared for in an appropriate manner
*left the child with an appropriate person or in a suitable location
*promptly notified an appropriate person of the child's location
On the plus side, I smell a Law & Order episode!
OOOOHHHHH!!!!! It'll be SVU because it involves a kid! My favorite!!!!!!
I can't believe such a brilliant plan fell apart, especially when it was conceived in a part by a cab driver (known for their intelligence and wits).
What's this world coming to?!
How difficult is it to just bring the baby to a church? Why draw up some crazy scheme? I think the real story behind this is... the cab driver needed $300 dollars. I bet $ on it!
How difficult is it to just bring the baby to a church? Why draw up some crazy scheme? I think the real story behind this is... the cab driver needed $300 dollars. I bet $ on it!
poor and dumb people should stop fucking. Harvey Danger was right : "been around the world and found
that only stupid people are breeding the cretins cloning and feeding". Now this kid is gonna grow up to be a bitter chola who's gonna do worse to her kids when she has em in 12 years.
poor and dumb people should stop fucking. Harvey Danger was right : "been around the world and found
that only stupid people are breeding the cretins cloning and feeding". Now this kid is gonna grow up to be a bitter chola who's gonna do worse to her kids when she has em in 12 years.
what's all those safe haven stickers I see on some businesses? I've always thought they were for runaways. Do we even have runaways to the big city?
The safe have stickers aren't really for runaways, it's more a kin to , 'If a weird guy is following you home from school, you can duck in here and the shopkeeper etc. will keep you safe until the cops get here'. I'm certain these 'save havens' aren't really vetted in anyway, so you have about the same chances of being helped as you do by a stranger on the street. Which are good, NY'ers are usually decent folks who step up to help people in need.
not for nothing, the driver was not just "trying to do the right thing."
He is an accessory to covering up a crime perpertrated by the baby-daddy, who will be arrested for, among other things, statatory rape. The baby-daddy was twice the age of the 14 yr old mother, which means that he likely knocked her up when she was 13.