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Sister pleads for abandoned baby's dad to come clean

By David Freedlander and Marlene Naanes

3:06 PM EST, March 3, 2008

Robin Carlson, Administrative Director of Emergency Service, holds the baby that was abandoned in a livery cab, during a press conference at St. John's Hospital in Queens on Thursday, February 28, 2008. (Freelance: Charles Eckert / February 29, 2008)

The sister of the 27-year-old man being sought for abandoning his baby girl in a livery cab pleaded Monday with her brother to turn himself in.

"If you see me, please turn yourself in," Maria Siavichay said in Spanish at a news conference.

Authorities has been seeking the man since a livery driver falsely claimed the 6-month-old baby had been abandoned in his car.

Siaviachay is the cab driver's girlfriend. The baby's mother is 14.

Klever Sailema, the cab driver, is facing criminal charges for lying to police after initially being hailed as a hero, leaving some to wonder if he's being unfairly punished.

"He was trying to be a Good Samaritan. From a humane point of view, he was trying to do a good dead and violated the law, which isn't good, but probably wasn't aware of the process," said Nick Silverio, founder of a Safe Haven for Newborns in Florida, where news of the case has reached. "Everybody figures that with Safe Haven laws they can leave a baby anywhere no matter when and how."

Sailema was initially praised in headlines and across the city after he told of how he rescued the 6-month-old girl left in his cab by a passenger. His story and the heart-warming pictures of baby Lourdes -- the name given by hospital workers to Daniella Perez --sparked an intense manhunt for the infant's parents. But on Saturday, Queens prosecutors charged the cabbie with falsely reporting an incident and criminal facilitation after it was revealed that he in fact knew the baby's 14-year-old mother and invented the story about the fare who left the child in an effort to help the parents.

Police are continuing to look for the baby's father. Meanwhile, Sailema now faces a year in jail.

Sailema's lawyer, Kevin Faga said the driver had "acted responsibly for the welfare of the child."

Shreya Mandal, a Queens-based lawyer, sees shades of gray in the case.

"It sounds like his intentions were good in terms of trying to ensure the child's safety, but he went about it in a dishonest way," Mandal said. "The best interests of the child have to be the top priority."

If Sailema had told the truth, he could still be a hero for safely delivering the infant of two desperate parents to police, said Timothy Jaccard, director of the Children of Hope Foundation and author of the nation's Safe Haven law. The police would not have been involved, Jaccard said, and the Administration of Children's Services would have tried to ensure the child was not kidnapped.

Jaccard worries that the story the cab driver spun -- and the fact that he was arrested -- may discourage others from using the law to protect unwanted babies. "Now people are frightened to come forth," Jaccard said.

Sharman Stein, a spokeswoman for the city's Administration for Children's Services said there are options for parents.

"If you don't have friends or family you can always call the authorities and we will absolutely find a safe foster home for the child and then work with the parents so they can become good parents," Stein said.

New Yorkers were divided about their feelings towards Sailema.

"That is really hard to figure out if he should be arrested because he definitely did the right thing," said Peter Villagio, 52, of Long Island. "Maybe because he did the right thing they should leave him alone."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

*** The Baby Safe Haven Law

Passed in 2000 in New York, the safe haven law protects infants and helps desperate parents.

The legislation allows parents, without penalty, to drop off a baby at a hospital, police station, fire department or with a "responsible person" within five days of the child's birth. Timothy Jaccard, a Nassau County police medic and president of the National Safe Haven Alliance, wrote the bill that eventually became law in all 50 states.

Last year 17 babies were left at safe havens in New York statewide, and 118 total since the law was enacted.

The amount of time a state allows a parent to drop off a child at a safe haven varies, but the majority of states allow 30 days from birth, Jaccard said. In New York, Jaccard¹s group, Children of Hope Foundation, assists desperate parents even if their baby is older than five days.

"No baby will be refused from the safe haven program," he said Sunday.

"We'd rather have the child safely in our arms, and then we will deal with the legalities with the five day requirement." The foundation and children's services authorities would do their best to ensure that the child was not missing or exploited, and even offer counseling to the parents if they were identified, he said The group's hotline is 877-796-4673.

(Marlene Naanes)