Police: Florida woman left 7 children alone for months; kids said they'd rather go to foster care
(Photo: Miami-Dade Corrections)
NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - A Florida woman has been charged with child neglect after she was accused of leaving her seven children home alone for months.
North Miami Beach police arrested 35-year-old Elidiesneins Perez on Wednesday, WSVN reports.
According to a police report, officers received a 911 call on Aug. 27 from a boy who said his mother had not enrolled him in school.
Investigators say the boy and his six siblings, who ranged in ages between 4 and 17, were left home alone since around July 17.
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The day before, on July 16, Perez's current husband was arrested for child abuse involving her 16 and 17-year-old children. When he was released from jail, a stay-away order was issued.
But instead of staying home with her children, police said she opted to stay with her husband instead, leaving the kids to fend for themselves.
According to WSVN, Perez did not leave any contact information for the children to be able to find her.
Detectives said the children had very little food in the house, and told investigators they had to eat rice for breakfast because they didn't have anything else.
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The kids also told officers they didn't have any clean clothes because they hadn't been to the laundromat in two months.
The older children told police they'd rather live in foster care than in their current situation. They said a family friend in San Diego had offered to take care of them, but the children said their mother refused to give up her parental rights because she gets a monthly check for two of them.
The Florida Department of Children and Families took all seven children into custody. Officers charged Perez with seven counts of child neglect.