A North Carolina mother has been charged with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse after she left her two children on the side of the road earlier this month. Jennifer Jean Westfall, 38, said she acknowledges her actions were wrong but committed them out of frustration.
“I know what I did was wrong but I just, I was so tired of doing this by myself. I have the strength to do what I need to do but I don’t have the skills to make the income that I need to take care of my family, and nobody will hire me. I’ve been around everywhere. And with these charges I just don’t see how I’m ever getting my kids back,” Westfall said.
Authorities say a woman taking her children to Reedy Creek Elementary saw the incident and took the children to school. From there, the school faculty told the school’s resource officer who called Child Protective Services.
The children are reportedly now in foster care.
Westfall said she drove the children into the school and alleged to have seen someone take them into the school, which she assumed was a legal way to abandon her kids. However, due to North Carolina law only infants a few days old can be left with another adult.
Child Protective Services and police investigated and decided to charge Westfall. She was arrested at her home Monday (Oct. 29) She was released the next day and scheduled to appear in court in November.
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