A newborn baby boy was abandoned by its mother at a church nativity scene in Queens, New York, on Monday.

New York Daily News reports the baby was found in Richmond Hill at the appropriately named Holy Child Jesus Church. Sixty-year-old custodian Jose Moran had just finished lunch and was sweeping up when he heard the newborn's cries.

"I looked around and didn't see anyone," said Moran. "That got me curious. I followed the cries. I walked to the little nativity home we had installed inside the church ... I couldn't believe my eyes. The baby was wrapped in towels. He still had his umbilical cord. He was next to the Virgin (Mary)."

Posted by Bishop Octavio Cisneros on Monday, November 23, 2015

The five-pound, full-term baby was taken to Jamaica Hospital where he was given a clean bill of health. By Tuesday he was in the care of the Administration of Children's Services.

Police recovered surveillance video of the mother entering the church with the infant, before leaving a few minutes later without it. Another video showed the mother at the nearby .99 Cents & Up Market with the child bundled in her coat.

Detectives are currently searching for the mother's whereabouts. It is unclear if police will look to press charges, as New York's safe haven laws permits parents to anonymously leave infants at public sites such as hospitals, or, in this case, a church. However, police say parents must leave the baby in someone's care or alert them to the baby's presence, which the mother neglected to do.

Moran did not seem to judge the mother for her actions.

"At least whoever abandoned him brought him to a safe place and didn't leave him to die," the custodian said.

Church Rev. Christopher Ryan Heanue was also sympathetic.

"God works in mysterious ways," Heanue said Tuesday. "[The child's mother] must have been in a difficult place in her life. She found in this crèche ... this empty place where Jesus will be in a few weeks ... as a home for her son."