Key takeaways:
- Deputies found four children, ages 14, 12, 11 and 9, without an adult at their Kissimmee home on Oct. 21.
- Miller told deputies she had left for a Las Vegas work trip on Oct. 18 and arranged for a babysitter to visit before and after school, but not overnight.
- Miller was arrested at Orlando International Airport on Oct. 23 and charged with four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm.
A Florida mother was arrested after deputies found her four children home without an adult when her 9-year-old son was injured by a falling dumbbell, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said. The mother told deputies she was in Las Vegas for work and had arranged for a babysitter to check on the children, but not to stay overnight.
Irene Miller, 50, of Kissimmee, faces four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm. Detectives arrested her as she exited a flight from Las Vegas at Orlando International Airport on Friday, Oct. 23, according to CBS News. She was booked into the Orange County jail.
The case began just after 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 21, when one of the children called 911 to report that a dumbbell had fallen on her younger brother’s head, CBS News reported. Deputies arrived at the home and found four children, ages 14, 12, 11 and 9, with no adult present.
First responders took the boy to Celebration Hospital for treatment. His injury was apparently minor, according to NBC News, and he was released from the hospital.
Deputies reached Miller by telephone. She told them she was working in Las Vegas and planned to return on Oct. 23, the sheriff’s office said. Investigators determined she had left for Las Vegas on Oct. 18.
Miller told deputies that a babysitter traveled from Tampa in the mornings to get the children ready for school and checked on them after school. She said she did not require the babysitter to stay overnight. Deputies contacted the children’s father, who agreed to take them to his home.
Sheriff Chris Blackmon said his office would investigate cases involving children left without proper supervision. “The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office will not tolerate child neglect,” he said. “These cases will be investigated, and charges will be brought against the parents who are not properly supervising or caring for their children.”
NBC News reported that a search of jail records showed Miller was no longer in custody as of Monday.
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