A Florida woman is facing child neglect charges after allegedly leaving her three young children home alone in the middle of the night to work an unexpected shift at a local Wawa convenience store.
Linda St. Leger, 36, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with three counts of child neglect. According to law enforcement, St. Leger left her children, ages 2, 8, and 10, unsupervised at her Plantation home after receiving a call from her employer requesting she cover a late-night shift.
Police were alerted to the situation by a concerned neighbor who heard the children crying around 2:00 AM.
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Officers arrived at the residence to find the children alone and visibly distressed. St. Leger was contacted by police and returned home, where she was taken into custody.
During questioning, St. Leger reportedly told investigators that she had no other childcare options available and felt she had no choice but to leave the children home alone in order to keep her job.
Child welfare services have intervened and placed the children with a family member. St. Leger was booked into the Broward County Jail. Her first court appearance is scheduled for next week.
The defendant’s court-appointed attorney tried to present the issue in terms of economic need and instability.
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“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 to 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.”
“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,” said her attorney.
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