The newborn was removed from the Safe Haven Baby Box at the Grove Creek Medical Center in Blackfoot “within a minute,” but was dead long before, officials say.
An Idaho teenager has been arrested in connection with the body of an infant found last month at a hospital in a box meant for people to anonymously give up a newborn, police said Friday.
The Blackfoot Police Department said in a social media post that an 18-year-old from Twin Falls, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) southeast of Boise, had been arrested there and booked into the Bingham County Jail.
She was arrested on a felony arrest warrant for failing to report a death to law enforcement officials and the coroner, police said.
Police in Blackfoot responded to a report Oct. 13 of a deceased baby left at Grove Creek Medical Center. Safe Haven Baby Boxes founder Monica Kelsey has said hospital staff responded immediately to an alarm indicating a baby was in the box and realized that the infant had died before being placed inside.
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Idaho law only allows for the surrender of an infant who is unharmed.
“The Safe Haven Baby Box is intended to safely and anonymously allow custodial parents to surrender a newborn under 30 days old without legal repercussions, provided the child is unharmed," police said in the social media post. "Unfortunately, the placement of a harmed or deceased infant is not protected under this system or Idaho law."
The baby had been wrapped in a blanket, and the placenta was still attached, Kelsey said previously.
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Police said they weren't releasing further information in part because more charges could be filed.
