MOOSIC -- Police in Lackawanna County are still looking for whoever left a newborn baby in a church bathroom.
Law enforcement officials say the parents' criminal prosecution is not their top priority. They're looking for any information that could help doctors care for the week-old little girl.
The pastor at Moosic Presbyterian Church found that baby girl Tuesday in a bathroom in the basement of the church.
The girl is still in the hospital and a nurse told us she's very lucky to be alive.
Whoever left the child here did break the state's Safe Haven law, but that's not the main reason why police are working to track down the baby's mother.
Since Tuesday afternoon, the nameless little face has been shared thousands of times on social media. The big questions: who are her parents and why was she found in a basement bathroom of a church in Moosic?
The pastor of Moosic Presbyterian Church found her, possibly days after she was abandoned.
"It looks as though her intentions were right, but luckily someone found the baby," said Kelly Worsnick, head ER nurse at Geisinger-CMC.
Worsnick says the child was found alive only because a certain set of circumstances worked in her favor.
"If you have a healthy child that was born with a normal metabolism, which God bless, this baby must have because it was still alive. Mom must have done a good job of taking care of herself up until the time of the birth."
Geisinger-CMC is one of several places in Lackawanna County where the baby girl could have been abandoned legally. Hospitals are a designated "safe haven," though the crib inside the emergency room door has never been used. Nor has it been used in any other hospital in Lackawanna County.
"I have not ever actually seen anybody utilize the safe haven," Worsnick said. "And you see on the news all the time -- this is something that's bothered me. I'm very passionate about it. You see on the news all the time different situations where babies were left and I'll say it one more time, there's not enough public information out there. I wish we had billboards."
Pennsylvania's Safe Haven law was amended last year to include police departments as a safe haven drop-off point. The Moosic Police Department is only about 100 yards away from Moosic Presbyterian Church.
Police and county prosecutors say there are infinite reasons why the child was left in the church. Some reasons would be criminal, others are not.
"I don't know if that's a question anyone can answer without understanding what the facts are," said Lackawanna County First Assistant District Attorney Gene Talerico. "That's why the most important thing is figuring out if this baby needs any special medical attention, make sure that the baby's mom is medically OK, and then understand the circumstances whereby the child found herself there in that church."
Moosic police tell us they have not received any promising tips that could lead them to the baby girl's mother. They have received calls asking about what's next for the baby. She's still in the hospital and will eventually by handed over to the Lackawanna County Office of Youth and Family Services.
