A couple has been arrested for abandoning their 11-year-old son alone in the house over the holiday season while they went on vacation.
According to a report from the Cochise County) Sheriff’s Office,
Melissa Green, 34, and Bobby Jo Green, 40, were arrested on Wednesday, December 29,
Arizona Central reported that the alarm was raised on December 12 after the sheriff’s office in Elfrida, Arizona, USA, received a call from one of their neighbors.
When Deputies visited the address on Coral Lane in Elfrida, they saw the 11-year-old boy who told them that he was left with a supply of frozen food while his parent had gone away for Thanksgiving on November 24.
The boy also told them that he hadn’t been to school in over a fortnight.
“Deputies responded and made contact with the 11-year-old who was home alone, and further investigation indicated that the mother had left the residence to go out of state before Thanksgiving and the father had followed shortly after Thanksgiving,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
“The child was left alone during the entire time until contact with Sheriff Deputies was made. The child indicated that there was frozen food available to him and he had not attended school during at least the prior two weeks.
The parents of the boy could not be traced so the child was turned over to Child Protective Services.
Mr. and Mrs. Green were however arrested on Wednesday when they returned home from an unknown location.
They were both charged on a count each of child abuse of a victim under 15 years of age, contributing to the dependency or delinquency of a child, and neglect or abuse of a minor.
Both were booked into a Cochise County jail, and they are being held on a bond of $100,000 each.
