A Michigan couple were barred from seeing or contacting their children after authorities said the mother abandoned their adopted but unwanted 13-year-old son in Nebraska under the state's safe haven law.
A Michigan court official issued the order Thursday against Terri and Terrance Martin and placed their children under temporary state custody.
Prosecutors said the children were victims of abuse and neglect.
Oakland County Juvenile Court Referee Karla Mallett also ordered the two boys, ages 10 and 5, and a 3-year-old daughter returned to their home under the care of a 19-year-old cousin.
Terri Martin drove about 12 hours to leave the teen on Monday at an Omaha hospital under Nebraska's unique safe haven law.
All states have laws designed to allow desperate new mothers to leave their newborns in safe hands, but Nebraska's law allows parents to abandon older children and even teenagers at hospitals.
The boy was the 18th child and the second from out of state abandoned in Nebraska since the law took effect in July.
Terrance Martin said Thursday that after his wife left with the teen, he took the three remaining children to a motel.
A fifth youngster, a 16-year-old boy, is a foster child who was already removed from the home by the Michigan Department of Human Services.
Prosecutors' request for custody cited a history of referrals to the Michigan Department of Human Services for reports of injuries to the abandoned teen.
The report said Terri Martin told Nebraska officials that she took the boy there to "scare him," yet she denied incidents of aggression.
It also said state records showed evidence that neither parent wanted the 13-year-old, who was adopted along with his 10-year-old brother.
Terrance Martin and his attorney, LaVonne Jackson, had no comment after the hearing, but Jackson said in court that the children were not at risk under his care and that he had cooperated with social workers.
Terri Martin's attorney, Douglas Oliver, said he had not yet spoken to his client.
Mallett postponed a prosecutor's request to terminate the Martins' parental rights until Friday so Oliver could have time to locate Terri.
Terrance Martin said the 13-year-old boy remains in Nebraska, where he was a ward of the state until Thursday.
He said he doesn't know where his wife is or when she is returning.
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All right then ...My question is why wasn't any action taken to find solutions for this family before now?
With the various agencies aware there were difficulties before the trip to Nebraska, someone dropped the ball to say the least.
But the million dollar question is: What is this doing to a 13-year-old boy who was chosen (i.e., adopted) then rejected.
Oh, and don't let the Mrs., near Terri Martin or I would have to visit her on Tuesdays and Saturdays - she was chosen as a child and when it comes to children, the entire Marine Corps could not stand against the Mrs., and hold her back from throttling the life out of anyone that harms a child, especially a chosen one.
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