JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - A mother who abandoned her newborn in the toilet of a South Carolina sports arena has avoided prison time.
Jessica Blackham was sentenced to a year of house arrest and three years of probation Wednesday after pleading guilty.
Prosecutors say the 26-year-old Blackham went into labor while watching the circus in February 2011 and gave birth to a 6-pound boy in a cramped stall. She left the child in the toilet and went home with her family.
Authorities say the baby was found by a cleaning crew 90 minutes later, his neck just above the water and with a body temperature of 85 degrees. The newborn survived and is developing normally.
Blackham apologized, telling the judge she may have not been thinking clearly because of blood loss.