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.
Those guidelines state that children must be at least 12 before they can baby-sit others, said Karen Clark, supervisor of Stafford Child Protective Services. Children under the age of 7 aren't to be left alone at all.
Clark said even 12-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to baby-sit for long. She also said the guidelines define only the minimum standard of care expected of parents. The guidelines encourage parents to consider many factors when leaving children alone--including their maturity, the safety of their surroundings and their access to emergency help.
Both Olsen and Clark said the guidelines are just that, and that officials consider the facts of each case separately before determining whether to intervene.
Olsen said Brown may have been charged even if the Loudoun charges had not been filed. But he said the case became easier because Brown had been told exactly what she could and could not do with her children.
Brown said she plans to appeal both the Loudoun and Stafford convictions. She said she won't have to serve jail time until the appeals are sorted out. She is taking parenting classes through Stafford social services.
Brown said most parents probably aren't aware of social service guidelines on their children. Brown said her 11-year-old daughter, who is now in sixth grade, knew how to get help if needed that day. Brown said everything was fine, and she felt completely comfortable allowing her to briefly watch the 19-month-old.
"If I didn't I would never have left her there," Brown said.
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