Mother Jailed for One Year for Cruelty

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A mother who left her two children alone in an abandoned building while she spent two days with her boyfriend has been jailed for one year.

The 23-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of cruelty to children at her arraignment before Assistant Chief Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans. Her name has been withheld to protect the identity of the minors, who are being held at the Children’s Emergency Hostel.

Superintendent Claudette McKenzie-Lewis, the prosecutor, told the court that police found the boys, ages three and eight, in an unsanitary building at Samson Street in Nassau Village on January 14. She said the children relied on a neighbor for food.

Once the mother has completed her sentence, she will be allowed to have supervised visits with their children, the magistrate said.

Social Services will ultimately etermine if the children will be returned to their mother.