A single mum may be charged with criminal reckless conduct after a neighbour called the police over her leaving her children home alone while she went to work.
In May 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Melissa Henderson discovered that her young children’s daycare had been shut down.
In a bind and with no help in sight, the single mum from the US left her four young children, including her four-year-old, home in the care of her eldest daughter, Linley, 14.
Child wanders outside
While Linley watched her siblings, she also tried to take on online learning and, when she was working on the computer, her four-year-old brother wandered outside to say hello to a friend on the street.
Linley noticed her brother was gone about 10 minutes later and found him at his friend’s house. However, the friend’s mother had already contacted the police before bringing Thaddeus into her home. No word on why the mother didn’t just go to Melissa’s house first or try and contact Melissa.
When the police first showed up, they asked Melissa a few questions and she explained the situation. As Linley was 14, there shouldn’t really be an issue, especially as state law says children can babysit at aged 13.
Everything seemed fine.
Handcuffed in front of them
However, two weeks later, officers showed up and arrested Melissa in front of her kids. They told her that this wasn’t the first time her son had been found on the street (Thaddeus also wandered off when he was three) and that he could have been hurt.
They charged the mum-of-five with reckless conduct.
Melissa recalls,
They handcuffed me, drove me to jail, booked me, had me put in a cell. It was awful. It was embarrassing.
I almost don’t have words for how low it made me feel. To truly feel in the bottom of my heart that if I’m anything, it’s a good mother and everything you do is for your kids. To be stripped of that to the point where you are handcuffed in front of them.'”
Melissa had to call her ex-husband to bail her out of Union Country Jail and remembers “curling up in a ball in the corner and just wanting to hide.”
Legal proceedings continue
Fast forward to now and Melissa is still in a legal nightmare as she is fighting to have her name cleared. If she is charged, she faces two years in jail and a fine of $1,000.
Her attorney, David DeLugas, argues the charge is unconstitutional and seeks to get it dismissed. The main reason is simple – state law allows children who are 13 or older to look after siblings for up to 12 hours.
Linley falls into this category.
Furthermore, child protective guidelines say children can babysit at the age of 13 with a parent’s permission.
Naturally, Melissa just wants this whole nightmare to end so she can return to normal but admits she’s afraid to leave her children at home with now-15-year-old Linley even for a short period of time.
Melissa’s brother has set up a GoFundMe account to help his sister out as has Melissa’s lawyer, David DeLugas.
The world reacts
As expected, people have A LOT to say about this story. Some argue that the mother was in the wrong but others disagree.
So what is the legal age we can leave children alone or in the care of siblings?
Growing up, I was babysitting other people’s children at 12 years old, after going through a babysitting program offered to children as young as 11. This was the norm. But now, it seems this isn’t the case.
Leaving children home alone: What are the laws in Australia?
There are no set rules around leaving children home alone. However, there are some guidelines.
In Queensland, for example, if you leave a child under 12 years of age for an unreasonable amount of time without supervision you have committed a criminal offence.
How long is an “unreasonable amount of time”? That’s the thing – there is no guideline to say.
In the Northern Territory, parents can be held criminally liable if they’re reckless or negligent with children under 16.
In NSW, preschoolers can only be left alone for five to fifteen minutes while children between 10 and 12 can be left alone for 12 hours.
In Australia, there is no minimum age limit for leaving a child with a babysitter but there’s also no minimum age limit for the babysitters themselves.
What do you think? Is it okay to leave siblings with an older child? Do you ever leave your older kids home alone?
