HAWKINS COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – A Church Hill woman was arrested and charged with child neglect after her 4-year-old child was found wearing only a diaper in the roadway.
According to a report from the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to New Canton Road on Friday, July 23 about an unattended child on the road.
A driver told deputies she saw the small child walking on the road near Hoskins Road with only a diaper on. The driver reportedly stopped, picked up the child and called 911. She said the child did not know where he was at or how to get back to his house.
HCSO reports the child’s mother, identified as Jennifer Begley, arrived shortly afterward and asked if deputies had seen her child. Begley told deputies she had been searching for more than half an hour.
The report states Begley gave her home address, which is about 0.4 miles from where the child was found.
When the child was found, it was shortly before 3 p.m. and the HCSO patrol unit’s dashboard said it was 91 degrees Fahrenheit outside.
Deputies report Begley and the child were escorted home. The Department of Child Services was notified by authorities to conduct a check of the home and child’s wellbeing.
The child was removed from the home, and Begley was placed under arrest for child neglect.
