A Georgia mother is refusing to take a deal after she was arrested on child endangerment charges after her 10-year-old son wandered around town unsupervised.
Mineral Bluff, Ga. Brittany Patterson, 41, was arrested by the Fannin County Sheriff’s Department on October 30 after she left her son home alone and he wandered less than a mile into town. According to NBC News,
The Fannin County Sheriff’s Department initially called the mother to alert her to the fact that her son Soren was alone in the town, located near the North Carolina border.
“It’s not a dangerous road at all or a dangerous road at all,” Patterson told the outlet, referring to the road that leads from his rural home to the town of Mineral Bluff. “I was not afraid for her or afraid for her safety.”
Deputies took Soren to the home and returned hours later to handcuff and arrest him in front of his family.
Patterson was booked on suspicion of reckless conduct and posted a $500 bond, according to the report.
The mother said she was angry and disappointed that her children had to witness him being handcuffed and booked by the police.
Patterson has rejected the offer to withdraw the charges, saying they are completely unfair.
According to NBC, she and her attorney say the sheriff’s office has offered to drop the charges if Patterson signs a form outlining a safety plan for her children.
“It’s okay. I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “I’m going to fight for it.”
(TagstoTranslate)US News(T)Child Endangerment(T)Georgia(T)Nanny-State
