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Marina
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Tennessee

Postby Marina » Sat Mar 22, 2008 10:07 pm

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http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/20 ... d-neglect/

Mom charged with child neglect
Left 10-year-old in car to watch two younger sisters
By Christopher Conley (Contact)
Thursday, March 20, 2008

A Millington mother is facing aggravated child neglect charges after police found her three children, one of them a 10-year-old, alone in a car outside a Wal-Mart.

The woman, Jarae Payne, 29, said Wednesday she believes the charges are excessive and that she had her three girls in sight the whole time she was out of the car.


Millington Police were called to the Wal-Mart at 8445 U.S. 51 just after 9 p.m. Friday by a store security guard.

When police arrived, the security officer told them he had been watching the white Pontiac for at least five minutes, and the children -- ages 10, 5, and 3 -- were alone the entire time, according to police reports.

Payne, when she returned to the car, protested that she believed the 10-year-old was mature enough to watch the other children, and that she did not believe the children were in danger.

The officers told her that several vehicles had been stolen from the area recently, according to the reports.

"It's very excessive," Payne said when reached at her Millington home Wednesday. "My whole family is outraged ... I've been a stay-at-home mom for 10 years.

"It was a big misunderstanding. I would never leave my children," she said. "They were never out of my sight."

People "need to think before they do something like that," said Millington Police Insp. Charlie Coleman.

"It's serious to leave your kids in the car -- even for two minutes," he said. "Maybe in the '50s you could do that, but not anymore."

The children were taken to relatives' homes after Payne's arrest.

Payne is to appear in Millington City Court on April 29, and said she will ask that the case be dropped.

In January, Millington Police arrested a 29-year-old Millington father outside the same Wal-Mart for leaving his 6- and 5-year-old boys inside his pickup for at least 15 minutes on a below-freezing day.

Police arrived and placed the boys inside their heated cruiser and waited for the father to return.

Shawn Tanner was greeted by police when he emerged from the store, and later charged with child abuse and neglect. The children were released to their grandmother.

Beside the threat of kidnappers and car thieves, the car could shift into gear, the seats could catch fire, and kids can get caught up in seat belts, officials say.

A recent Internet controversy was set off by a similar case in Chicago. In early December, a 36-year-old mother was arrested after leaving her sleeping 2-year-old daughter in her vehicle when she took her two older daughters to drop coins in a Salvation Army kettle.

Some people blasted police while others said the mother endangered the toddler. Last week, prosecutors dropped charges of child endangerment and obstruction of justice against the woman.

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