Mom Locked Runaway Daughter, 15, Outside in Her Underwear After Assault: New London Police

Police investigating a report of a teenager running away for the second time Friday night discovered that the mother assaulted her daughter and locked her outside of their New London home in her underwear after she returned the first time, police said.

Lorna Maldonado is facing assault, risk of injury to a minor and strangulation charges after her 15-year-old daughter told police she attacked her with a large electrical cord and her hands upon her return home the first time and then locked her outside in 5-degree temperatures in her underwear.

Maldonado initially told police that her daughter ran away from home wearing just underwear as officers investigated the second report of the teenager running away Friday, nearly two hours since she had been located the first time at 10:15 p.m. The second report came in at 11:41 p.m.

New London police and a Waterford police K-9 team searched for the girl in the neighborhood on Anthony and Michael roads and couldn't find her, so police looked into other possible places she might be. The teenager came home after police left and Maldonado notified the department. The girl told police what her mother had done when they contacted her and said a neighbor gave her light clothing and a ride from the area after she was locked out in her underwear, police said.

Police charged Maldonado with second-degree assault, risk of injury to a minor and third-degree strangulation and held her on a $25,000 cash-surety bond.

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