Mother of Abandoned Minnesota Boy Wants in on Custody Talks

The mother of an 11-year-old Minnesota boy abandoned by his father in July said she wants to be a part of the discussions about her son's future.

It has been almost a decade since Katik Porter, 38, seen her son, but she came forward and made contacted with child protection services and asked that she be made a part of court proceedings regarding his custody, according to Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom.

The state will decide where the boy will be placed, and the child protection services and courts process could take months.

Backstrom said the boy is staying with a relative.

Steven Cross, a 60-year-old architect of Lakeville, left his son to fend for himself in mid-July when his home went into foreclosure. He had lost his job.

Court records reviewed by the media show that Cross was awarded sole physical and legal custody of his son in 2001 when the boy was a year old. Porter received visitation privileges, which were suspended in 2002.

Backstrom said Porter's parental rights were not terminated.

The boy woke up on July 18 and found two letters from Cross. In one letter Cross revealed that the mother the boy thought was dead was actually alive, and that he should take his PlayStation and go to a neighbor's house, as the other letter asked the neighbor to look after the 11 year old.

Cross was arrested in Cambria, Calif., this week and he has waived extradition to Minnesota. Cross faces charges of child neglect in that state.

Lakeville police told The Associated Press that Cross is also the subject of an unrelated fraud investigation, but there have been no charges in that case.

Cross told California television station KSBY, during a jailhouse interview, that he would fight the charge, as he said he thought he was doing what was best for his son.

I didn't want him to remember his dad as homeless, Cross said.