MANSFIELD, Conn. — An arrest has been made after a baby was found abandoned on the hood of a car last spring, according to Connecticut state police.
Jorge Grados, 41, of Hartford was arrested Monday and was charged with intentional cruelty to persons and risk of injury to a child.
State police received a 911 call on March 23, 2022, regarding a baby that was found wrapped in a towel and left on the hood of a parked car.
The baby, later determined to be a premature boy, was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The baby at the time weighed around 2 lbs. and had been born within the past 24 to 48 hours, according to state police.
As stated in the arrest warrant, the witness who called 911 told investigators she was taking pictures of nature on Pleasant Valley Road in Mansfield when a man parked nearby, shouted "I'm sorry" to her, and placed the towel-wrapped baby on her car hood.
The woman waved down someone driving by, who parked and then flagged down a paramedic driving by.
Grados told police the mother of the baby said she could not keep the baby due to "where she lived and her illegal status." She told Grados he was the father, he told police. A man at the mother's house believed to be a family member gave Grados the baby, and Grados then cleaned the belly with water, according to the arrest warrant. He said to police he considered bringing the baby to a hospital but ended up placing the baby on the hood of a car on the side of the road.
He told police he was "scared" to check up on the baby's well-being even though he wanted to know whether the baby was OK.
"I am willing to accept responsibility for this," Grados told police. "If [they] had given me a little bit more time, I could have...figured this out."
Grados was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday and was held on a $100,000 bond.
During the investigation, it was revealed that Grados also has a sexual assault case after an arrest by Manchester police in April.
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Connecticut has a law that allows newborn babies to be dropped off in a place where they can be cared for.
The Safe Haven Law gives a parent who either can no longer care for their baby or for no longer wants the option to hand over custody to DCF, as long as the child is 30 days old or younger and as long as it happens at a hospital emergency room.
The law is meant to prevent babies from being abandoned in dangerous places as they have been in the past, such as dumpsters and public bathrooms.
Since the Safe Haven Law's inception 20 years ago, DCF says over 30 babies have been potentially saved from abandonment.
Here is how the Safe Haven Act works:
- The law enables a parent to bring an infant 30 days or younger to a hospital emergency room and avoid prosecution for abandonment.
- A nurse will ask the parent for their name and for medical information on the infant and parent. The parent does not have to provide that information.
- DCF will obtain custody and place the baby with a family who is already licensed and intends to adopt the baby.
- Safe Haven babies are placed into homes with families that adopt the child. In one instance, a Safe Haven baby was placed into a permanent home of a relative
- The Department will provide support to the baby’s new family while terminating the biological parent’s parental rights so that the adoption can become final.
- Connecticut law requires that a child can only be placed by the Department with a person licensed to provide foster or adoptive care.
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