Woman who abandoned newborn wants custody

WHEATON, Ill., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- A refugee from Myanmar who left her newborn son in a neighbor's yard in a Chicago suburb says she wants to regain custody of the boy.

Nunu Sung, 26, is in prison serving a short term for lying to police and is scheduled to be paroled in January, the Chicago Tribune reported. Her son, Joshua, now 2, is in the care of a Wheaton couple who hope to adopt him.

Sung's lawyers say prosecutors have reneged on an agreement not to seek termination of her parental rights in exchange for her guilty plea. DuPage Circuit Judge Blanche Hill Fawell said Wednesday that agreement may have been mistaken, but prosecutors now are legally obligated to be involved in doing what is best for the boy.

Sung's only available legal step is to try to withdraw her plea agreement, Fawell said.

A Wheaton man whose dog was barking at something found the newborn under a tree in June 2009. Prosecutors said earlier this year that the boy was suffering from hypothermia and almost certainly would have died if the dog had not noticed him.

Sung's supporters say she hid her pregnancy because the boy's father had refused to get involved and she was afraid her relatives in Wheaton would throw her out.

"She came here to escape the injustices of a corrupt government, and she ends up falling victim to the injustice of not being given the full benefit of her plea agreement," lawyer Jennifer Wiesner said. "Her main priority always has been that her parental rights not be terminated."