Florida mother arrested after leaving four children unattended in Kissimmee
Irene Miller was taken into custody on child-neglect charges after deputies found her four children alone at their Kissimmee home while she was working in Las Vegas.
Osceola County deputies arrested 50-year-old Irene Miller at Orlando International Airport on Friday after she returned from a work trip to Las Vegas. The arrest follows an investigation that began after one of Miller’s children called 911 on Oct. 21 to report that a dumbbell had fallen on her 9-year-old brother’s head.
Deputies arrived at the family’s Kissimmee residence shortly after 8:30 p.m. and found four children, ages 9, 11, 12 and 14, with no adult present. Fire-rescue personnel transported the injured boy to Celebration Hospital, where he was treated and released.
Miller told investigators she had left Florida on Oct. 18 for a job in Las Vegas and planned to return on Oct. 23. She said a babysitter from Tampa was scheduled to arrive each morning to help the children get ready for school and to check on them later in the day, but the sitter was not required to stay overnight.
The children’s father was contacted and agreed to take the minors to his home while detectives arranged to meet Miller when her flight landed. Miller was booked on four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm and placed in the Orange County Jail.
"The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office will not tolerate child neglect," Sheriff Chris Blackmon said. "These cases will be investigated, and charges will be brought against the parents who are not properly supervising or caring for their children."