Steven Cross, the Lakeville father accused of abandoning his 11-year-old son to find a new life in California, is back in Minnesota.

Dakota County authorities returned with Cross, 60, to Minnesota on Friday night after he was arrested in San Luis Obispo, Calif., late last month.

On July 18, Cross' son, Sebastian, awoke to find his father gone and a letter saying he wouldn't be coming back after financial difficulties and the loss of their Lakeville home to foreclosure. The 11-year-old, Cross wrote, should move in with neighbors.

He told co-workers that he wanted to start a new life.

Eleven days after his disappearance, authorities arrested Cross in California as he was on his way to a job at a deli.

"I was doing the best I thought I could do for my son," he told a California TV station. "It was tough being a single dad. ... I didn't want him to remember his dad as homeless."

The boy's mother, Katik Porter, 38, came forward last month after not seeing her son in nearly a decade. Porter's visitation rights had been suspended in 2002 after she didn't visit, records show, but her parental rights were never terminated. She is now working with child-protection officials and could request custody.

The 11-year-old remains in the care of an aunt.

Meanwhile, Cross is charged with gross misdemeanor child neglect of his son. He waived extradition after his arrest, and Dakota County authorities said he will be arraigned this week.

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