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11-year-old too young to baby-sit toddler sister
Stafford County woman convicted of misdemeanor for leaving toddler alone with 11-year-old daughter.Date published: 9/6/2006 A Stafford County woman sentenced to serve four months in jail for allowing her 11-year-old girl to baby-sit her toddler is speaking out against the decision. Cheryl Ann Brown, 39, was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after Stafford sheriff's deputies found her 11-year-old and 19-month-old daughters alone in Brown's North Stafford house June 23. Brown said her neighbor called 911 that evening after hearing something from Brown's basement. Brown said she was gone for an hour running errands and said her children were safe. "She's a responsible 11-year-old," Brown said. "Should a parent go to jail for leaving an 11-year-old at home?" On Thursday, Stafford Juvenile Judge Julian Johnson decided that she should. Johnson sentenced Brown to serve four months in jail after convicting her of the misdemeanor. Stafford prosecutor Eric Olsen, who handled the case, noted that Brown was on bond from Loudoun County when the Stafford incident occurred. The Loudoun charges arose after Brown allowed two of her daughters to ride in the trunk of a small rental car during an eight-hour trip in July 2005 from Alabama to Virginia. The girls told their father, who called police. Brown's four daughters and a friend were in a Nissan Sentra, and two of her daughters alternated riding in the trunk during the trip because there was not enough room. There was never more than one child in the trunk at a time, and nobody was injured. Brown said her daughters climbed into the trunk from the passenger area by their own choosing. Brown, who has physical custody of the toddler and has visitation rights with her other three daughters, was sentenced last month to serve six months in jail for that Loudoun offense. Olsen said that Stafford social service workers met with Brown after the Loudoun offense to spell out rules regarding her children. She was told that her 14-year-old daughter could baby-sit the toddler, but her 9- and 11-year-olds could not. "She was just too young," Olsen said about the 11-year-old watching the toddler. Olsen said he introduced into evidence at Brown's trial the guidelines that the Stafford Department of Social Services has for child supervision.
Read more stories about Stafford Date published: 9/6/2006
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