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ST. GEORGE -- A family split up over a child abuse investigation may not be together again for some time, even though no charges will be filed.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports 5th District Juvenile Judge Hans Q. Chamberlain on Thursday returned the 9-month-old boy to his mother, 22-year-old Alma Vasquez after the child spent nearly three weeks in foster care. But the child's father, 34-year-old Sergio Diaz-Palomino, has been deported.
The couple was arrested after a store clerk in St. George thought some pictures of a father with his baby were pornographic. The mother took the pictures.
But prosecutors decided the photos just showed a proud father with his son. Last month they dropped all of the felony charges against Diaz-Palomino and Vasquez.
Diaz-Palomino ended up being deported to Mexico, and Vasquez still faces an immigration hearing.
An attorney says the baby reached for his mother right away when she picked him up from foster care, the Tribune reports.
