Gary Staton abandons his 9 children, unable to take care of them

In July, Nebraska's lawmakers approved a law that allowed parents to abandon children as old as 19 in order to protect infants from violence. Mr. Staton is widow and he gave his five sons and four daughters, saying he was struggling to take care of them.

"I was with her [his wife] for 17 years, and then she was gone. What was I going to do?" Staton who is jobless, said to Omaha TV Station KETV. "We raised them together. I didn't think I could do it alone. I fell apart. I couldn't take care of them."

Already some families have volunteered to take care of Staton's children but a judge has yet to decide on a permanent custody, a spokeswoman for the state department of Health and Human Services said, the Associated Press reports today.