The mother of the newborn boy found abandoned on June 9 near the Meijer store in Lewis Center has been identified through DNA testing and will not be charged with any crime.

"We received tips in this case leading us to investigate multiple women," said Delaware County Sheriff Walter L. Davis III. "After a thorough investigation, the Delaware County Sheriff's Office was able to positively identify the baby's mother through persistent detective work and DNA testing."

He referred the case to the Delaware city prosecutor's office -- which handles criminal misdemeanors countywide -- to determine what, if any, charges the woman faced.

In a Nov. 6 memo to Davis, city prosecutor Peter Ruffing said he "reviewed the applicable laws and tried to determine not only the letter of them, but also their spirit and intent. I have considered the goals, benefits and likely outcomes of prosecution in this case. Based on these considerations, it is my recommendation that no criminal charges be filed in the above case."

The testing was done by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification, which does not charge the sheriff's office for its services.

Neither Ruffing nor Davis would release the mother's name because she has not been charged with a crime. They also would not confirm media reports that the mother is the woman who reported the abandoned baby to the sheriff's office.

Davis said his office had tested the DNA of five people: the baby, one man ( who is not the father) and three women, including the woman identified as the mother.

The investigation lasted four months and members of the sheriff's office put in more than 200 man hours on the case, Davis said.

"One detective was assigned as the lead investigator on the case. He did the majority of the investigating on the case, working on it daily for nearly four months. The lead detective was assisted at different times by other members of the detective bureau, patrol deputies, records clerks, dispatchers and support staff," Davis said.

Davis said he is "extremely proud" of the work his staff did to solve this case.

According to the initial police report, a female motorist driving on Owenfield Drive saw the infant in the grass and called 911 at 1:22 p.m. on June 9. She told deputies that she picked the child up, wrapped him in a sheet and held him in her car until help arrived. Investigators said he was less than 2 hours old when found with the umbilical cord still attached.

The baby was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital for observation and then released into the custody of the Delaware County Job and Family Services Department. He was named Thomas Benjamin Lewis and placed into foster care. After 90 days the county was granted permanent custody by Delaware County Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth J. Spicer.

Since the results of the DNA tests were completed, the mother has not contacted the county and the adoption process has begun, said Sue Ware, social services administrator for the county.

County prosecutor David Yost said earlier that whoever abandoned the baby could have avoided endangering him by giving him up under Ohio's "safe haven" law. Under the law a parent may anonymously surrender a newborn up to 30 days old without fear of prosecution.

Infants must be left with an officer at a law-enforcement agency, a medical worker at a fire or EMS station, or a medical worker at a hospital.