The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
On Wednesday evening around 8:30 pm, a woman heard frantic knocking at her front door as well as the ringing of her doorbell several times in a period of just a few seconds.
When she responded and answered the door the woman saw a 2-year-old child standing unattended on her front porch with a couple of bags next to him. The woman alerted the authorities for assistance in the situation and the police and child protective services went to her home.
The woman who owns the home where the boy was left has a surveillance camera hidden inside of her doorbell and it recorded the events leading up to the toddler ending up alone on the doorstep.
Upon viewing the captured video, a woman was seen ushering the young boy and the bags up to the door before knocking and ringing the bell rapidly. She quickly returned to her automobile and drove away before ensuring that someone had retrieved the child, and left him standing alone.
Since the identity of the child and his parents were unknown the authorities went door to door through the immediate surrounding neighborhood to asked people if they knew who the boy was. They also posted the captured video on Facebook to utilize the online community in their attempts to locate someone familiar with the child.
The video circulated the internet and the following day someone was able to give the authorities the identity of the father of the child. It was discovered that he lives next door to the house where the boy was left.
The father, who has been given back his son from CPS, said that the boy’s mother texted him and let him know that she was in the hospital so she was sending a friend of hers to drop the child off at his home in the afternoon. The child did not arrive, so his dad said that he had assumed plans changed and he left his residence for a bit causing him to miss the police as they knocked on doors in search of the boy’s family.
The woman seen in the footage said that she attempted to leave the boy at his father’s home but she accidentally went to the wrong address.
She may now be looking at a charge for felony child abandonment due to her mix-up.
If you or someone you love is suspected of child abandonment, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.