http://www.wctv.tv/content/news/Jasper-man-charged-with-child-cruelty-443970643.htmlArrest records reveal new details on what led up to a 19-month-old being left outside during Tropical Storm Irma.
The little girl’s father, 36-year-old Angelo Mitchell, is charged with child cruelty, accused of abandoning the toddler in the storm.
According to the arrest report, the girl’s mother told investigators Mitchell left the house with the toddler in his car at about 11 o’clock the night before.
The mother told investigators when Mitchell came back to the house about two hours later, he didn’t have the little girl with him. He told the toddler’s mother he’d left her at the house and never had her, according to the arrest report.
Officers and deputies searched the area and used a tracking dog to try to find the child, but came up empty.
Under questioning by investigators, Mitchell insisted his daughter was safe, was never with him, and must be with a family friend.
The arrest report says Mitchell admitted having several drinks while his daughter was in his care, and officers could smell alcohol on his breath and person. Officers arrested him on child cruelty charges while the little girl was still missing.
Monday morning, around 11:30, a passerby discovered the child, lying in the yard of a home about 400-500 yards from her house.
The sheriff says the 19-month-old suffered the whole night through the storm, exposed to the wind and rain, and was purple in color. Witnesses tell WCTV the child was also covered in scratches and bug bites.
The child was taken to Shands Hospital in Gainesville for treatment. The Hamilton County sheriff says the girl went home from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon and is doing well.
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