A Ledyard mother is accused of going to work and leaving her 3-year-old son home alone.
An officer with the Mashantucket Tribal Police Department found the toddler wandering alone on Fanning Road around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday and called Ledyard police.
An investigation led officers to the mother’s home on that street, but Courtney Richard, 27, was not there; she was working, police said.
Ledyard police said Richard told them the boy was supposed to be with a relative, but later changed her story.
Neighbors in the quiet area are disturbed that such a young child was alone, walking on the street.
“I’d stop. If I can stop for a puppy that I saw the other day, I can surely stop for a child,” said Lyda Pagan.
“A toddler walking down the street -- not a good thing,” said Thomas Senuda.
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“I would’ve taken the child inside the house, then called the police,” added Senuda.
Richard’s mother told NBC Connecticut the boy is OK.
Meantime, Pagan said justice should be served.
“You can’t leave a 3 year old baby by themselves. ... I won’t even leave my 10-year-old at home alone," said Pagan.
Courtney Richard has been charged with risk of injury to a child and falsely reporting an incident. She bonded out of jail. Meantime, the state Department of Children & Families placed the child in the custody of his father.
