King County prosecutors said that if the mother, Sarah M. Christianson, is convicted, they will not ask for jail time. Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said his office would request a sentence that includes treatment and parole.

“I can appreciate that the decision to abandon the newborn was the product of confusion, fear and panic, but it also put the child’s life in great danger,” Satterberg said. “Through great luck, this child was not injured.”

Christianson was charged with third-degree abandonment of a dependent person, a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. She will be arraigned Oct. 22 at the Regional Justice Center in Kent.

Satterberg said the misdemeanor charge “will ensure that the defendant recognizes the recklessness of her actions and is also able to get the supervision, treatment and support she needs in her life.”

Police had sought a felony charge of second-degree abandonment of a dependent person. Satterberg said that would require an injury to have occurred, not just the risk of an injury.

The baby girl had a slight case of hypothermia and was less than 12 hours old when treated by doctors, but recovered quickly, charging documents state. Hospital workers named the child Autumn Doe.

Christianson left the baby at Steel Lake Presbyterian Church at 2:15 a.m. Sept. 28, two hours after she gave birth alone outside of her apartment complex a third of a mile away, court documents state.

She walked with the baby wrapped in a beach towel from the Brightwater Apartments, 31224 20th Ave. S., to the church at 1829 S. 308th St., she told police. A church member found the baby near the front doors of the church 51/2 hours later.

Christianson told police she left the baby because she wasn’t emotionally or financially ready for a child and that she thought the church was a legal “safe haven” to leave a baby anonymously.

The baby, while still a ward of the state, has been placed in the care of her father’s mother, who lives in the Auburn area. The father, Iraq-bound soldier Clark Stevens, said he’s seeking custody of the baby, named Mariah Verle Stevens.

Christianson, who could not be reached for comment Friday, was released after turning herself in to Federal Way police Sept. 29. Prosecutors said they don’t believe she has an attorney yet. She has no criminal history.

Stevens, 24, wouldn’t comment on his ex-girlfriend being charged.

“I just hope she gets the help she needs,” Stevens said Friday. “I’m leaving this entire situation in the hands of the prosecutors. I’m not talking to them or having any impact on the case either way.”

The Legislature passed a law in 2002 that allows someone to leave a newborn anonymously within 72 hours of birth at a hospital or fire station where medical help is available.

Under those circumstances, charges would not be filed against Christianson, Satterberg said.

The law does not allow abandonment of a newborn at locations where qualified personnel are not available, he said.

Had the mother brought the baby to a church and left the child with someone there to take to the hospital, she wouldn’t have been charged, Satterberg said.

Stevens leaves Tuesday to prepare for his 10-month deployment to Iraq a week later with the 81st Brigade Combat Team of the Washington National Guard.

He has said he didn’t know Christianson had continued the pregnancy until he was called home to Auburn last week because of the baby.

Stevens said he and Christianson agreed in late February or early March that an abortion was best. Christianson told police she then didn’t go through with the abortion and kept her pregnancy a secret, going through three hours of labor alone.

Satterberg said Christianson, in abandoning her baby, made a “reckless and irresponsible decision” his office couldn’t overlook.

“She’ll have to come to court and answer for that,” he said.

Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647