Woman accused of leaving 6-year-old son alone at Sunny Isles Beach park

SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. — A woman was arrested over the weekend after she left her 6-year-old son alone at a park in Sunny Isles Beach for nearly an hour, authorities said.

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According to an arrest report from the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department, the incident was reported shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday at Town Center Park, located at 17200 Collins Ave.

Police said a man notified officers that the young boy had approached him and said his mother, Elena Sexton, had left him at the park and he was scared and had not eaten since breakfast time.

The witness told officers that the boy had been alone in the park for nearly an hour.

According to the report, the boy told officers that his mother had left him alone so she could go get food with a friend.

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Police said officers canvassed the area but could not locate the boy’s mother.

Officers eventually spotted Sexton, 41, of Corpus Christi, Texas, walking back to the park, the report stated.

According to the report, Sexton claimed that she had parked at a nearby shopping plaza and went back to get some toys when she saw a friend who asked her to sit and have food.

She said she did so while leaving her son at the park, authorities said.

Sexton was arrested on a charge of child neglect without great bodily harm.

Police confirmed the Florida Department of Children and Families was also notified, but the report did not state whether the boy was released into DCF custody or was turned over to a relative.

As of Monday morning, Sexton remained held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Online jail records listed her bond as “to be set.”

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