Imprisoned Wheaton mom fights to keep son she abandoned

A woman who abandoned her newborn son under a bush in Wheaton is petitioning a court to prevent prosecutors from interfering with her plans to take custody of the boy upon her release from prison.

Nunu Sung, 26, pleaded guilty to obstructing justice in October in exchange for a three-year prison term and a promise the DuPage County state's attorney's office wouldn't seek to terminate her parental rights.

But now the child's court-appointed guardian has petitioned a juvenile court judge to prevent Sung from having further contact with the boy. Under the judge's order, the state's attorney's office is responsible for prosecuting that petition.

The situation led Sung's attorneys on Wednesday to pursue contempt of court allegations against prosecutors. But DuPage Judge Blanche Hill Fawell dismissed the request, saying the plea deal was made in good faith.

In their filing, Sung's attorneys argued prosecutors have “willfully and contumaciously failed and refused” to abide by the terms of the plea agreement while offering no objection to the guardian's petition.

State's Attorney Robert Berlin said his office has no choice but to follow the juvenile court judge's orders.

“The law allows the court to order us to prosecute a petition against our wishes if the court finds it's in the best interest of the minor, which is what happened here,” Berlin said. “We didn't file this petition, but we are certainly going to follow a judge's orders.”

Glen Ellyn attorney Terra Costa Howard, who represents Sung, said her client was allowed regular visits with her son, now 2, until she reported to prison last fall. Since then, she said, a child services agency appointed by the court has denied visitation, other than one meeting in July.

“A termination of parental rights is essentially a death sentence for a parent,” said Howard, whose client expected to gain custody of the boy upon her release from prison. “We're just looking for the state to abide by the plea agreement and not try to terminate her parental rights.”

Sung, an unwed Myanmar native, pleaded guilty to abandoning the infant named Joshua on the morning of June 12, 2009, after she gave birth behind a garage near a cousin's apartment on Crescent Street in Wheaton. A neighbor called 911 after he and his dog discovered the newborn child nude and covered in dirt with his umbilical cord still attached.

Authorities said Sung became pregnant while living in Texas but kept the pregnancy a secret after moving to Wheaton in February 2009. They said she never received prenatal care, and the child's father never expressed an interest in pursuing custody.

Sung tentatively is scheduled to be paroled from Lincoln Correctional Center in Lincoln in January, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections website. She returns to court later this month.