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A Georgia dad was recently jailed after leaving his children to play unsupervised at a nearby McDonald’s playground while he went to a job interview.
Chris Louis, 24, was charged with deprivation of a child on March 22, according to the Augusta Press. That day, a McDonald’s customer in Augusta spotted three children, ages one, six, and ten, playing alone in the indoor playground area.
The customer called 911, and a local officer arrived and realized the youngsters were not accompanied by an adult. A witness saw Louis with the children about 4:30 p.m. before he left the restaurant, returned, and then left again.
When he returned to McDonald’s at 6:18 p.m., deputies held him.
He told authorities he didn’t possess a vehicle and walked to the restaurant with his children from his apartment, but he didn’t want them to walk back alone while he had a job interview nearby.
Louis was brought into custody, and the children’s mother arrived to pick them up.
Louis has received an outpouring of sympathy on social media, with some advocating for his release and giving financial assistance.
“It seems like he might use some support. “He’s trying,” one user wrote. The ten-year-old was watching them! One lady remarked, “I watched my sisters at the age of ten, and they are still alive and breathing.”
In Georgia, there is no particular regulation regulating the age at which a child may be left alone; nevertheless, standards advise that children under the age of nine should not be left alone, and those aged nine to twelve should be left for limited durations of less than two hours dependent on maturity. Those 13 and over may be left alone and may babysit for up to 12 hours.
“It seems that he was just looking for work to support himself and his children. “He didn’t leave them in the car, so come on, give him a break,” another social media user said.
Former NFL player Antonio Brown set up a GoFundMe page for the family.
“The story took me by surprise. A father simply trying to find a way to provide for his family. I realize he shouldn’t simply abandon his children, but some individuals don’t have the resources for childcare, etc. This GoFundMe page has been put up to aid this guy. I talked with GoFundMe, and they will send the monies to Chris and his family. I have not talked with Chris yet, but I expect to do so shortly,” Brown stated.
The online campaign had earned $40,000 as of Wednesday morning, with Brown contributing more than $1,000.
A similar situation occurred in Scottsdale, Arizona, when charges were dropped against a 35-year-old woman who was jailed for leaving her two young kids — ages two and six months — in a sweltering vehicle while she went on a job interview.
Shanesha Taylor said that she and her sons were homeless and that she was unable to get a babysitter for them. People who heard about Taylor’s condition donated more than $100,000, and prosecutors subsequently opted not to file a criminal case against her.
When asked whether she would make the same choice to leave her children alone, Taylor said, “That’s a tough decision because I was really deciding between caring for my children and providing for my children. That is something that individuals experience on a daily basis.
A Houston woman was also charged after she was unable to locate child care for her 6- and 2-year-old children and was forced to meet with a potential employer for a job interview in a mall’s food court.
She said she had situated her children about 30 feet away from her and had them in sight at all times, but by the end of her interview, an officer had arrived and detained her.
A judge eventually freed her children to her.
