Linda St. Leger (Broward County).
A Florida woman is facing charges after she allegedly left her three young children at home in the middle of the night to go to work.
Linda St. Leger stands accused of child neglect over the incident that allegedly got more harrowing as the night went on, authorities say.
The three children involved are ages 2, 8, and 10, police say.
The defendant was arrested on Wednesday and appeared in court on Thursday to face the allegations, according to Orlando-based ABC affiliate WFTV. The incident allegedly began the night before.
According to police, the mother left her children at their home in Plantation, a suburban city that is part of the Broward metro area.
Just before midnight on Tuesday, the defendant’s 2-year-old son allegedly left the house with a dog, police say. Wearing a dirty diaper, the boy allegedly made it nearly a quarter of a mile before someone realized he was alone, got him to safety, and called 911.
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Officers arrived at the home and allegedly found it scorching hot inside — even at 1 a.m. Police say the internal temperature of the residence was 91 degrees. Officers also documented something of a state of disrepair — dog excrement was allegedly seen all over the house while no edible food could be found.
Police say the woman’s 10-year-old daughter told them her mother usually works the night shift at Wawa, a regional gas station and convenience store chain, from Sunday through Wednesday. During those times, the girl allegedly told police, she acts as the babysitter to her two younger brothers — even changing their diapers.
Law enforcement subsequently called the Wawa in question.
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Leger allegedly spoke with police and said she was unexpectedly called in to work that night due to an emergency.
The defendant’s court-appointed attorney attempted to frame the issue in the light of economic need and precarity.
“We have a single mother that got an emergency call from her employer basically saying you have to come back to work because somebody didn’t show,” assistant public defender Héctor Romero said in comments reported by Miami-based Fox affiliate WSVN. “If not you’re going to lose your job. She’s a single mom, trying to make rent payments, trying to make water payments.”
The defense attorney added: “She made a poor choice, judge, but there’s circumstance behind it. It’s not like she was trying to go out and have fun. She was trying to provide for her family. She didn’t want to risk her kids being homeless.”
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Prosecutors argued money was no excuse.
“I understand why she wasn’t there, but the danger to the children remains the same, regardless of the parent’s motive,” assistant state attorney Eric Linder said during the Thursday hearing.
There is currently no record of the defendant in the Broward County Jail, which is where she was booked when she was arrested.
The children are currently in the custody of their father.
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