Maricella Miranda, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. –
Lakeville father Steven A. Cross has reunited with his son after abandoning him almost a year ago in their home, leaving the 11-year-old boy letters to explain he was gone.
Cross, 60, and his son, Sebastian, now 12, met briefly in a therapist’s office Thursday, June 21, said Cross’ attorney Jeff Priest. The reunion was supervised, he said.
Cross confirmed the meeting but declined to say more about it.
In May, Cross was sentenced in Dakota County District Court to two years of probation for gross misdemeanor child neglect for leaving his son alone last July 18 in their home and setting off for California. Cross has repeatedly apologized for the abandonment.
“I wish I could do it all over again, but I can’t,” he said during sentencing.
Cross briefly saw his son in April at a child welfare hearing.
Sebastian was initially living with neighbors when Cross left, but after a month he began living in foster care with his maternal great-aunt. The boy told the court repeatedly that he wanted to continue living with his aunt. But last month, District Judge Richard Spicer ordered that the boy begin permanently living with his mother, Katik Porter, 39, of Minneapolis.
The county’s social services helped decide when the boy would reunite with Cross. This week’s meeting between them didn’t change the custodial arrangement, Priest said.
Additional supervised therapy sessions will occur between Cross and his son, said Monica Jensen, Dakota County attorney’s office
spokeswoman. She did not know how often the sessions would happen.
The child welfare case is scheduled for a review hearing July 25.
Emily Cooper, Porter’s attorney, said her client, Cross and Sebastian are participating in counseling to strengthen their family and bond with the boy. The county could dismiss the child welfare case before the July hearing, she said.
“Sebastian is doing great at his mom’s, and everyone is happy,” Cooper said. “The ending to this story is starting to turn out to be a very positive one for Sebastian and both of his parents.”
Cross had full custody of the boy before he left Minnesota.
When Cross fled, he left letters for Sebastian, saying that their home was foreclosed on, that he couldn’t find work and that the boy’s mother — whom Cross had said was dead — was alive. Porter lost visitation rights with the boy in 2002.
Cross then drove to Cambria, Calif., an artists’ colony on the Pacific coast. He found a job at a deli and lived in his van. He was arrested Aug. 29 and extradited to Minnesota.
In January, a jury found Cross guilty of child neglect.
Cross, an unemployed architect, has been living with neighbors across the street from the home he lost in foreclosure.
