DETROIT -- A couple has two children back after they lost custody of their four children when the mother abandoned their 13-year-old son in Nebraska in October.

The state of Michigan was temporary custody of the four suburban Detroit children after the 13-year-old was abandoned under Nebraska’s Safe Haven law.

The abandoned teen returned to Michigan Oct. 20 and was immediately placed in foster care.

The couple’s youngest children, 3 and 5 years old, were returned. The other two, a 10-year old and the teen who was abandoned, remain in state custody.

Teri and her husband Terrence Martin, both of Southfield, lost custody of the four after Teri was scolded by prosecutors during court hearings about the abandonment.

Oakland County juvenile courts referee Karla Mallett told Martin that she never sought help for her son's alleged bad behavior.

"Not one contact was made by this mother to the court to provide help for her child's behavior," she said.

Mallett said Nebraska is not a "humane society for animals. He is a child. It's not some place you can drop him off and have him fixed."

The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office filed a neglect petition against the abandoned boy's Southfield family after the Michigan Department of Human Services said there were allegations of child abuse against the couple that go back nine years.

The children were immediately placed into foster care and both parents were not allowed to see any of the children without supervision.

Southfield police said they had been investigating the family for neglect even before the abandonment, and they have gone to the family's home twice in the past.

Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca said a Department of Human Services worker went to the family's house but the father refused to allow the Department of Human Services worker to look into the well-being of the children. "That causes us concern," Gorcyca said.

Officials said relatives alerted them that the mother may have burned her son with a curling iron as punishment.

The state was also told they didn't want to keep two of their children, who were adopted.

Mother’s Attorney Says Abandonment Story Has 2 Sides

The first court hearing on the case in October was delayed a day because Teri Martin was unreachable and did not show up to the hearing.

"It's quite shocking that a parent would pick up a child and drive all the way to Nebraska and not think twice at all about it," said Deb Carley of the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

Martin will not face charges in Nebraska under the unique Safe Haven law, which permits caregivers to abandon children at state-certified hospitals without fear of prosecution.

However, whether Oakland County will have jurisdiction over Martin and if she will face charges in Michigan has yet to be determined.

"Those parents are still responsible for their kids," said Southfield Police Chief Joe Thomas. "It's not the state of Nebraska's responsibility."

The boy told authorities his mother is under a lot of stress and could not deal with him anymore.

Some of the couple's relatives describe her as a good mother who made a bad choice.

"I really believe it was more like a lesson for him," said a family member. "I don't think she would have left him had she known the consequences."

Martin didn't speak during the hearing she was present at. Her lawyer, Alan Byrd, told reporters there's another side to the story.

"There was a lot of trauma and friction in the home," Byrd said. "The mother was under a lot of pressure and stress, and she made a decision that a lot of people may not see the validity of. But once you know all the totality of the circumstances, I think you might have a different reaction."

Nebraska Clarifies Safe Haven Law

In October, the boy became the second teenager from outside Nebraska and the 18th child overall abandoned in the state since July, when the law took effect.

The law was intended to protect infants, as Safe Haven laws do in most other states, but Nebraska's law lacked specificity in defining “child.”

So some have concluded the law covers all minors, which in Nebraska includes anyone under the age of 19.

Nebraska's governor and a majority of the Legislature have since changed the state's unique Safe Haven law so it applies only to infants up to 3 days old.

Instant Feedback: Mother Abandons Son Under Nebraska's Safe-Haven Law