One of the dreams that many children have is getting old enough to babysit. By the time they reach their teenage years, they are likely responsible enough to watch a little one while the parents go out for an evening.
That is how most of us feel, but Melissa Henderson learned something different. As a young, single mother, she realized that she was in a tight bind. She had to run out to work but her youngest son, Thaddeus, was not able to be cared for at daycare. It was closed because of COVID.
That is when Melissa turned to her oldest child, her daughter who was almost 15 years old and asked her to babysit the younger sibling. She then went off to work for the day.
The 14-year-old girl was busy with some schoolwork and the younger brother, Thaddeus, slipped outside without her knowing it. He was about four years old and he was outside for approximately 15 minutes and then he was bought inside by the daughter.
This is where it would have stopped but there was a neighbor who saw the little boy and called 911. It didn’t escalate at first but two weeks later, Melissa was approached by police at her home and put in handcuffs. The charge was criminal reckless conduct.
As you can imagine, this was a humiliating and embarrassing day for her. The police report outlined some of the things that could have happened during that time, such as being bitten by a snake, hit by a car, or being kidnapped.
Although this is considered to be an overreaction by many people, Melissa is still looking at the possibility of $1000 in fines and a year in jail.
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