Parents of the year
A couple accused of leaving children, ages 1 and 3, alone twice in one night so they could go to dinner and a bar
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A Texas couple was arrested and charged with child abandonment after they left their children, ages 1 and 3, alone at home while they went out for dinner and then to a bar.
At midnight on November 8, police responded to a call from a concerned neighbor regarding two young children that had been left alone at a house in Weatherford, Texas, Parker County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) said in a news release.
As police arrived at the house, Breanna Nicole White, 26, and her husband Evan Daniel White, 26, had just made their way back around 12.10 am.
The Whites let the officers into their residence, allowing them to confirm that no adults were present at the house or anywhere else on the property – the couple’s three-year-old son and one-year-old daughter had been left unattended, police said.
Upon questioning, the parents admitted that they initially left the children unsupervised earlier in the evening while they went out to dinner at a local restaurant around 8pm, according to PCSO.
The couple said they then returned home, and then decided to go out again to a local bar, leaving their children home alone for the second time that same night.
‘Due to the very young age of both children involved, it isn’t reasonable to believe they could fend for themselves in the absence of a parent or guardian,’ PCSO stated.
The two children
were taken in by Parker County Child Protective Services, which placed them with family members while their parents are under investigation.
Breanna and Evan were booked into Parker County Jail Sunday and were released that same day on $5,000 bonds.
‘There is no greater responsibility than parenting a child, and it’s heartbreaking to think that parents would leave their toddlers home alone so mom and dad could go out to the bar,’ Parker County Sheriff Russ Authier said in the news release.
‘Mom and dad ended up being babysat themselves at the Parker County Jail for doing just that.’
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