A Georgia mother is facing possible prison time after her 10-year-old son was found walking alone into town less than a mile from his home.
Brittany Patterson, 41, was arrested on Oct. 30 on suspicion of reckless conduct after her son was walking unsupervised, according to the Fannin County Sheriff's Office.
Patterson left her son Soren, now 11, alone at home in rural Mineral Bluff and took her other son to the hospital. NBC News reported. After someone reported Mr. Soren wandering, officers located him and gave him a ride home.
“It's not a super dangerous road, it's not a dangerous road at all,” Patterson told the publication. “I wasn't afraid of him or worried about his safety.”
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Brittany Patterson, 41, was arrested after her son was found walking alone less than a mile from her home in rural Mineral Bluff, Georgia. (Fannin County Sheriff's Office)
However, officers later returned to the home and arrested Mr. Patterson.
In body camera footage captured by ABC News, Deputies can be heard telling Patterson that he is being arrested for reckless endangerment.
Brittany Patterson, 41, was arrested after police reported that her 10-year-old son was walking alone less than a mile from the family home. (Fannin County Sheriff's Office)
“So how did I recklessly endanger a child?” Patterson asked.
Another deputy responded, “We're not talking about that,” and handcuffed the mother.
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Patterson and his attorney said authorities offered to drop the charges if he signed a security plan that included using a GPS tracking device on his son's cell phone.
The mother refused to sign the plan and said she planned to fight the charges.
“I can't sign it, and by signing it I would be agreeing that there was something unsafe in my home or that there was something unsafe in my parent's decisions. I felt it, and I don't believe that,” the mother told ABC News. .
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Patterson was released on $500 bail, but the charges could carry up to a year in prison.
