SALEM, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts woman has pleaded guilty to child endangerment charges for leaving two boys she was baby-sitting alone in an apartment for about eight hours.
The Salem News reports that the boys, ages 6 and 8, had been alone for close to two hours when officers arrived at the Salem apartment at about 6 p.m. on June 8, 2016. They had not eaten since lunch.
The babysitter, 27-year-old Belinda LaFerriere, didn’t return for another 5 ½ hours.
She was sentenced Monday to a year of supervised probation.
LaFerriere says she asked someone else to watch the children before she left, but she did not wait for him to arrive and there is no evidence he ever showed up.
The children were taken to a hospital for an evaluation.
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