Mom Arrested After Leaving 8-Year-Old Son Home Alone Over Memorial Day Weekend

A mother was arrested and charged with child neglect and child endangerment after leaving her 8-year-old son home alone over the Memorial Day weekend while she traveled out of state, according to WTKR.

Suffolk Police responded to the 100 block of Windsor Court on Saturday after receiving a report about a boy being left home alone. Child Protective Services came and took the boy away.

Kionna Moret, 27, of Suffolk, Virginia, was taken to Western Tidewater Regional Jail, but she was later released on bond. Her son is still in the care of Child Protective Services, according to a WAVY-TV.

The Grio reported that the mother told her son to keep her travel a secret while she went to South Carolina for the holiday. He said his mother threatened to spank him if he told anyone that she was not at home.

The boy’s mother left him enough food to eat while she was gone. It was enough corned beef hash and pizza to last until she returned. She also left him with a cell phone to check in with her every hour.

A neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, called the police when the boy came outside to play and told other kids his mother wasn’t home. The boy said he was old enough to be home alone because he took Taekwondo.

The neighbor asked to speak to his mother, but he was very hesitant at first. Then he said she wasn’t home, and he was staying home alone the entire weekend.

The neighbor remembered that she had seen many times that there was no car in Moret’s driveway, and it is frightening to think that the boy might have been left at home alone on other occasions. It is shocking to think a mother would leave her 8-year-old son alone while she traveled two states away for the entire weekend.

“If that’s the parenting that she is going to display, she needs to be retrained and be given the privilege back at a later time.”

The boy said his mother was not due back until Monday. Police stayed at the house for about six hours after they were called on Saturday evening. Perhaps it was because when the boy checked in with his mother, she was told that the police were there, and they waited until she came home to be arrested.

At what age do you think it is acceptable to leave a child home alone?

[Image via Suffolk Police Department]