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Bail set for Minnesota father accused of abandoning son

Photo: Dakota County Jail

Sep 12, 2011 at 1:07 pm

HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) - Bail was set at $5,000 Monday in Dakota County for a Lakeville man accused of abandoning his 11-year-old son.

Steven Alexander Cross made his first court appearance in Minnesota on a gross misdemeanor child neglect charge. The 60-year-old father was returned to Minnesota Friday from San Luis Obispo County in California where he was arrested on the neglect warrant.

Cross had full custody of his son before disappearing July 18 after their home was lost in foreclosure. The boy told police his father left two letters, one apologizing to his son for leaving him and the other asking a neighbor to look after the boy.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press (http://bit.ly/pzWPWQ ) reports the $5,000 bail includes conditions that Cross stay out of trouble and doesn't leave the state.