A woman from New Jersey was taken into custody on suspicion of endangering children. The mother allegedly spent a lot of time alone with her two small children in a hotel room in Daphne, Alabama. This includes her nonverbal autistic 5-year-old son.
The kids reportedly spent hours without food or supervision. Serious worries about their welfare and safety have been raised by this.
The hotel staff were increasingly concerned after realizing that the mother had been absent for a considerable amount of time. The children, a boy with severe autism and a girl in elementary school, were left alone in the room for hours, staff reported to the police. At times, it lasted for a full day. This has been occurring on a frequent basis, according to staff confirmation. On July 27, the family and the mother’s boyfriend booked into the hotel.
After realizing that the children had been left unattended and alone since early Saturday, staff members alerted the police on the weekend of the event.
Officers were then sent to investigate, according to Brian Gulsby, chief of Daphne Police.
Initially, the Department of Human Resources (DHR) in Alabama was called. Officials wanted to wait and see whether the mother would return soon, so they opted not to take the kids out of the hotel right away.
WARNING: There are horrific details of alleged child mistreatment in this piece.
After reportedly leaving her two sons, including a 5-year-old autistic youngster, alone at a motel, Hassanah Smith, 33, was arrested in Alabama on two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. forpic.twitter.com/xSSMourUjb
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Later on, though, the authorities discovered the 5-year-old youngster by himself in the hotel’s pool. He was totally unattended and alone.
The children had not eaten or had anything to drink for a long time, according to the police. After that, officers fed them and stayed with them until their mother came back.
Hassanah Jabria Smith, age 33, has been identified as the mother. She allegedly provided officers with multiple contradictory explanations for her location.
Authorities said 33-year-old Hassanah Jabriah Smith was detained on Sunday after she left her 5-year-old non-verbal autistic child and her 15-year-old son alone in a hotel room for two days.
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She initially stated that she had merely left to go to a neighboring store. According to Law & Crime, she later lied and claimed to have been in Tennessee, Atlanta, and then back at the hotel at roughly 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Smith was taken into custody and accused of putting a child’s welfare in danger on two separate occasions. The maximum penalty for each misdemeanor count is $1,000 in fines and one year in prison.
Hotel employees have attested to the fact that this was not an isolated incident. They said Smith frequently left her kids alone for hours at a time. She occasionally left her children behind while spending the night in the hotel.
These recurring events will be included in the ongoing investigation, according to the police.
Smith’s boyfriend has been temporarily given custody of the kids. This has been verified by authorities, who state that the younger autistic youngster need ongoing care and supervision.
The case has also raised concerns about the way child protection organizations handle cases of chronic neglect.
Smith will not be released from detention. The matter will proceed to the court in Baldwin County. It is probable that prosecutors will examine police body camera video, staff testimonies, and hotel security film. To ascertain whether further charges are justified, these are required.
Online, the incident has provoked popular indignation. Stronger safeguards for children who are at risk and more severe punishments for persistent neglect are demands made by many users.
