A mother is facing possible jail time as her 10-year-old son was found walking alone to town, reports Fox News.
The son was found walking less than a mile away from family’s home in Georgia.
Fannin County Sheriff's Office said that the mother, Brittany Patterson, 41, was arrested on suspicion of reckless conduct on Oct. 30 over her son's unsupervised walk.
According to media reports, “Patterson had taken another son to a doctor’s appointment when she left her son Soren, now 11, alone at their home in the rural town of Mineral Bluff.” After someone reported Soren’s wandering, deputies located him and drove him home.
"It's not a super dangerous or even dangerous-at-all stretch of road," Patterson said the media, adding, "I wasn't terrified for him or scared for his safety."
Still, deputies returned to the home later and placed Patterson under arrest.
In body-cam footage, deputies could be heard telling Patterson she is under arrest for reckless endangerment. "And how was I recklessly endangering my child?" Patterson asked.
Another deputy responded, "We're not talking about it," before handcuffing the mom.
Patterson and her lawyer said that authorities offered to drop the charge if she signed a safety plan that included using a GPS tracker on her son’s phone.
The mom said she is refusing to sign the plan and will fight the charge.
"I just felt like I couldn't sign that and that in doing so, would be agreeing that there was something unsafe about my home or something unsafe about my parental decisions and I just don't believe that," the mom told media.
Patterson was released on $500 bail and could face up to a year in jail under the charge.
Bd-Pratidin English/ Afsar Munna
