The woman, who appears to be smiling in the surveillance footage, dropped the boy off at the stranger's home and ran off.
NBC NewsSurveillance footage of the Texas woman and child.
A Texas woman was captured via a surveillance camera inexplicably abandoning a two-year-old boy on a stranger’s doorstep.
Video footage released by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office near Spring, Texas shows the woman holding the two-year-old in one arm and carrying his belongings in the other. She approaches the front door of the home and appears to be smiling. The woman furiously rings the doorbell a number of times, knocks on the door, and then takes off in a white car, leaving the child to fend for himself.
The little boy, with his face blurred in an effort to protect his identity, stands by the door looking around as the woman rushes out of the frame.
By the time the homeowner opened the door and discovered the toddler the woman had already run off. The homeowner then dialed 911 and told police about what she had witnessed.
The sheriff’s office reports that the two-year-old was left uninjured and in good health. Child Protective Services also responded to the scene and took the boy into custody.
About 12 hours later, local news station KTRK in Houston helped authorities to identify the boy, as well as to locate his father.
As it turns out, the boy’s father lives next door to the home where the boy was dropped off and left alone. The boy’s mother allegedly had asked a friend to drop off her son at his father’s house. The woman in the video is confirmed to be said friend, but she has not been identified.
The boy’s father expected his son to get dropped off at home. But when the friend didn’t show up with his son, he assumed that the boy’s mother changed plans and he decided to step out for the night.
The boy’s mother was in the hospital at the time of the incident and it appears then that the friend simply mixed up homes and dropped off the toddler at the stranger’s doorstep instead of the father’s.
KABCScreengrab of the unidentified woman leaving the child. On the right is an image of the child’s mother.
Even though the woman made a simple mistake, she still might face felony charges for leaving the 2-year-old in the way that she did.
According to The Zendeh Del law Firm, there are two separate offenses that are considered child endangerment in the state of Texas. One is covered by abandonment law and the other is defined by endangerment law, and Texas police have the right to arrest anyone that’s committed one (or more) of these acts against a child aged 15 and younger.
Abandonment law states that it is illegal to leave any child anywhere without reasonable care. Endangerment law dictates that it is illegal to intentionally abandon a child where the child is exposed to unreasonable risk or harm.
A person charged with child endangerment could face up to two years in prison and up to 20 years if the offense is charged in the second degree. The offender may also be required to pay up to $10,000 in fines.
The woman in question has not yet been arrested and it’s also unclear what charges (if any) she may face. But when reviewing the surveillance footage, it’s hard to imagine that authorities would let this child endangerment offense slide.
Next, read about this couple in Texas that enslaved their nanny for two years. Then, read this story about the hunt for a woman that was caught on surveillance footage in broken shackles.
