Photo: Salt Lake City Sheriff's Office
It’s probably a stretch to expect much from drug addicts in terms of parenting skills, but even by these standards, what one Utah mother did is vile.
Jesica Brown, a 28-year-old woman from Draper, Utah, was arrested and charged for locking her 4-year-old son inside a hot car. She thought that this would be a suitable punishment for the kid’s misbehaving at the park earlier that day, CNN reports.
Brown didn’t just lock the kid inside the car on what she knew was a hot day (despite the early hour): she also stood by and watched him as he cried in anguish. The same goes for her boyfriend, of whom CNN says wasn’t otherwise involved in the incident.
Police rushed to the scene after being alerted by a passerby, who noticed the scene and was worried for the child’s safety. And it’s a good thing they called. “A probable cause affidavit says an officer on the scene found the child's head was hot to the touch, he was sweating and his eyes were puffy,” the report reads.
A possible explanation for Brown’s gesture, other than her being a terrible mother and human being, is her drug addiction. Cops found needles in the car and in Brown’s purse, and she admitted to using meth and heroin prior to the incident.
“Brown was charged with child endangerment because the child had access to drugs or drug paraphernalia, and child abuse for leaving her son in the hot vehicle,” the CNN report further notes.
This year alone, 13 children have died in the U.S. after being accidentally left behind in a locked vehicle in warm weather. Leaving a child unsupervised in a locked car is illegal regardless of the temperature outside, but it becomes even more dangerous when it’s hot, as the car acts heats up much like an oven within minutes.
Brown didn’t just lock the kid inside the car on what she knew was a hot day (despite the early hour): she also stood by and watched him as he cried in anguish. The same goes for her boyfriend, of whom CNN says wasn’t otherwise involved in the incident.
Police rushed to the scene after being alerted by a passerby, who noticed the scene and was worried for the child’s safety. And it’s a good thing they called. “A probable cause affidavit says an officer on the scene found the child's head was hot to the touch, he was sweating and his eyes were puffy,” the report reads.
A possible explanation for Brown’s gesture, other than her being a terrible mother and human being, is her drug addiction. Cops found needles in the car and in Brown’s purse, and she admitted to using meth and heroin prior to the incident.
“Brown was charged with child endangerment because the child had access to drugs or drug paraphernalia, and child abuse for leaving her son in the hot vehicle,” the CNN report further notes.
This year alone, 13 children have died in the U.S. after being accidentally left behind in a locked vehicle in warm weather. Leaving a child unsupervised in a locked car is illegal regardless of the temperature outside, but it becomes even more dangerous when it’s hot, as the car acts heats up much like an oven within minutes.
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