Cassie Scales called a neighbor during a trip, asking if they would check in on her 2-year-old daughter who was home alone, police say.
So that neighbor called police, who allege Scales locked the child alone in a bedroom while the Tennessee mother took her 3-month-old on a trip along with a friend on Jan. 12, according to WBBJ7.
After receiving the call, officers arrived and found that the child had a dirty diaper and was “not able to get out” of the bedroom, Huntingdon Director of Public Safety Walter Smothers told WBBJ7.
The child had been locked in that room for around 24 hours before Scales, 22, returned on Jan. 13, police told NBC4.
She was arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect, The Rogersville Review reported. The mother indicated she was willing to accept a plea deal in exchange for lesser punishment.
The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services took both the 2-year-old and the 3-month-old from Scales, WBBJ7 reported.
Neither child was hurt, police say.
In a similar case from September, an Iowa mother was arrested after police say she left her four children aged 6 to 12 home alone so she could vacation in Germany.
Erin Lee Macke left Sept. 20 with plans to return to the United States on Oct. 1, police say, but arrived back in the states on Sept. 28 after authorities ordered she return.
“Investigators confirmed that Macke had made no arrangements to provide adult supervision or care for the children while she was away,” the Johnston Police Department wrote on Facebook.
She was charged with four counts of child endangerment and one count of making a firearm available to someone under the age of 21.
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