Parents of 11 Year Old Boy Who Played Unsupervised in Front Yard Arrested and Jailed

Two Florida parents were hit with felony neglect charges after their 11-year-old son was reportedly playing alone in the backyard for an hour and a half.

According to his mother, the boy arrived home before his parents and was locked out of the house, so he shot some hoops in the yard until they arrived.

A neighbor saw the child outside alone and called the local police. When his mother and father arrived home, they were met by a police officer, who arrested them for child negligence.

The parents were delayed by traffic and rain, so both their eleven-year-old and their four-year-old sons were taken away from them and put into foster care for a month. You can read about those new state-approved living conditions -- including the fact that the eleven-year-old survived off of cereal in foster care -- here. 

It is important to note that in Florida, there is no minimum age where a child cannot be left alone at home. 

The parents spoke out recently to Reason magazine. The mother stated:

The authorities claim he had no access to water or shelter.We have an open shed in the back yard and 2 working sinks and 2 hoses.They said he had no food.He ate his snacks already.He had no bathroom, but the responding officer found our yard good enough to relieve himself in while our son sat in a police car alone.In his own yard, in a state,Florida, that has no minimum age for children to be alone.

The family is now in court mandated therapy.

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