GoKawiilVirginia Mother Convicted for Letting 5-Year-Old Walk Alone in Gated Community
Karyann Parkinson, a law student in Williamsburg, Virginia, let her 5-year-old son Sam walk roughly half a mile alone to a nearby pond within their gated community, a route he had safely traveled many times before. A passerby reported the child to security, triggering a police and Child Protective Services response that led to charges against Parkinson. A judge convicted her last week of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a first-degree misdemeanor carrying a six-month suspended jail sentence, and CPS placed her on the state's child abuse registry for seven years.