A mother was arrested after she allegedly left her 6-year-old son alone in a park while she got food with a friend.
Elena Sexton and her son were visiting Florida from Texas when she was arrested for child neglect on Saturday, August 15.
Police responded to Town Center Park in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, around 9 p.m. on August 15 after receiving a call about a boy who had seemingly been left alone at the park, according to an arrest affidavit reviewed by Law & Crime. While speaking to a 911 dispatcher, a man said that the boy approached him “and said he was alone” and “scared” because his mother “left him.”
Officers with the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department spoke to the witness upon their arrival, and he said he believed the boy had been alone for at least an hour. Additionally, he claimed that the boy told him that he “had not eaten since breakfast time.”
Police then spoke to the boy and asked him where his mother was. He told them that she “left him to be with a friend to get food,” per the affidavit. He also told officers that he was “scared” and didn’t want to leave the park “with a stranger.”
Police searched the park and surrounding areas for Sexton, 41, with no luck. She later returned to the park and found police officers waiting for her, and she was arrested.
After she was taken into custody, Sexton told officers that she had gone back to her car to “get some toys” shortly after she and her son arrived at the park. While at her car, she allegedly “saw a friend” and was invited to get food. She then “partook” in the invite “while leaving [her son] at the park.”
Police have not revealed how long the boy was unattended before the witness called 911.
Officers have since contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families regarding the incident.
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Following her arrest, Sexton was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. She has since been released after posting a $2,500 bond.
Those found guilty of child neglect in Florida can be sentenced to serve up to five years in prison if there is no great harm.
It’s not currently clear whether Sexton had entered a plea or retained legal counsel following her arrest. The Sunny Isles Beach Police Department did not immediately respond to Us’ request for comment regarding updates in the case.
