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22-Year-Old Danbury Woman Charged With Abandoning Baby Behind Market

DANBURY, Conn. -- A Danbury woman has been charged with abandoning her newborn baby behind a supermarket on Main Street in May, police said.

Anny Castillo

Anny Castillo

Photo Credit: Danbury Police Department

At 11:38 p.m. Sunday, May 21, Danbury Police received a 911 call reporting that someone had found an abandoned baby near the Polla Supermarket on Main Street. Officers arrived and were directed to the back of the Zaytuna Grocery Store, where they found a newborn baby boy wrapped in several pieces of women's clothing. The baby was admitted to the neonatal care unit at Danbury Hospital.

Related story: Police seeking mother of newborn baby found behind Main Street store

Officers began a search for the mother of the baby, and five days later she walked into the lobby of the Danbury Police Department. The mother, later identified as 22-year-old Anny Castillo of Danbury, was taken to Danbury Hospital for treatment. Both she and the baby were described by police at the time as being in "general good health."

A warrant was issued for Castillo's arrest, and she turned herself in to police on Thursday afternoon. She was charged with abandonment of a child under the age of 6 years, risk of injury, and cruelty to persons. 

She was released on $1,500 bond and will appear in court on Friday.

In response to the case, Gov. Dannel Malloy pushed for greater awareness of the state's Safe Haven Law, which allows newborns to be relinquished at emergency rooms, no questions asked.

The case in Danbury is the fifth time a baby has been dangerously abandoned since the Safe Haven law took effect in Connecticut in 2000.

Since then, 31 babies have been taken to hospital emergency departments. All of those babies have since been adopted, except in one instance in which the family of one of the parents came forward to care for the child.

For more information on the Safe Haven laws, click here.

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