Babysitter Accused Of Tying Her Son To Bush While On The Job

A babysitter in New York is in trouble for allegedly tying her own child to a bush while she was indoors watching another child. Meanwhile, her loved ones are coming to her defense and saying that the 22-year-old single mom is a “good mother.” Investigation Discovery’s Crime Feed reports that Mery Isabel Quinde Castro has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, but her family blames the alleged child victim in this incident.

The Spring Valley mother admits to tying the boy to the bush outside the apartment complex where she was babysitting another child. The child was reportedly tethered to the bush by part of his backpack and was not in the line of sight of his mother. According to authorities, the child was tethered approximately 200 feet away from the apartment where the woman was babysitting. She claims she did it because he didn’t want to go inside. In other words, it was a sort of punishment. She even acknowledged that it was a kind of “time-out.”

The babysitter’s sister rushed to her defense by saying that the boy, who is only 4-years-old, is “wild,” and has to be directly tied to things to keep him from running off — which seems like all the more reason for his mother to supervise him. Neighbors in the area have a completely different opinion of the incident, however. One even offered his opinion to reporters.

“It befuddles me why she would tie a child up to a tree — almost like a dog.”

Castro was quickly bailed out of jail by her sister, who posted the $2,500 without hesitation. She isn’t out of hot water yet, though. New York Daily News reveals that the mom may have been a little dishonest with police who have been investigating the incident. Paul Modica, chief of Spring Valley Police, spoke to the media.

“The mother is saying that the child was only tied out there for about 10 minutes. Regardless, 10 minutes or 10 seconds, our investigation is leaning closer to more than a half hour, 45 minutes that that child was out there.”

This is also allegedly not the only time the babysitter couldn’t keep an eye on her own child. Neighbors in the area have reported seeing him out running around unattended before while Castro was indoors, supposedly babysitting. Even though she’s been released from jail since her arrest, the 4-year-old boy has been put in the custody of one of her family members. This is likely due to her comments to police that she “could not handle” her energetic child.

[Photo: Spring Valley Police mugshot]