Florida mother arrested at airport after leaving four children alone for days
A Kissimmee mother faces four counts of child neglect after leaving her children, aged 9–14, unsupervised for days while on a Las Vegas work trip.
Kissimmee mother charged with child neglect after Las Vegas trip left four kids unsupervised
A 50-year-old mother from Kissimmee, Florida, was arrested upon landing at Orlando International Airport on Friday after leaving her four children home alone for several days while travelling to Las Vegas for work, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office announced. News4jax.com reports that Irene Miller now faces four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm.
The case came to light on Wednesday when a juvenile dialled 911 to report that her 9-year-old brother had been struck in the head by a falling dumbbell at the family home on Parkway Boulevard, according to WKMG in Orlando. Deputies who responded found four children — aged 9, 11, 12, and 14 — with no adult present.
Fire rescue transported the 9-year-old to hospital, where he was treated and subsequently discharged.
Detectives reached Miller by phone after arriving at the scene. She told them she was in Las Vegas for work and planned to return the following Friday. Investigators established that she had departed for Las Vegas on 18 October — five days before her scheduled return.
Miller told deputies that a babysitter travelled from Tampa each morning to help the children prepare for school and checked on them again in the afternoon, but did not remain overnight.
The children's father was contacted and took all four to his residence. When Miller landed in Florida on Friday, detectives were waiting at the gate. Body camera footage released by the sheriff's office shows her being taken into custody after stepping off the plane. She was booked into Orange County Jail.
Sheriff Chris Blackmon issued a statement following the arrest: "The Osceola County Sheriff's Office will not tolerate child neglect. These cases will be investigated, and charges will be brought against the parents who are not properly supervising or caring for their children."
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)