Mother whose children found playing in Interstate enters plea

Doglips · 10-02-2003, 01:33 PM

Yep another mother of the year news story....course Dad's not mentioned..but he should get a prize for letting her keep the kids...probly a jerry spinger story with paternity.

Posted on Thu, Oct. 02, 2003

Mother whose children found playing in Interstate enters plea
Associated Press

DAVENPORT, Iowa - A mother whose children were found playing in traffic at an Interstate 80 rest stop has pleaded guilty to child neglect and drug charges.

Sentencing for Michelle G. Childers, 37, of Rapid City, S.D., is set for Oct. 23 in Scott County District Court.

Childers was sitting in her car the night of June 27, getting high on methamphetamine while her 3- and 7-year-old children, one of them naked, played unattended, Bettendorf police said.

Assistant Scott County Attorney Julie Walton said Wednesday she is recommending prison for Childers, who was on the way from her home in Rapid City to a family member's home in Ohio when she stopped at the rest area.

The two children were turned over to the Iowa Department of Human Services immediately after their mother's arrest. They are now living with family members in another state.

Police reports state that Childers told another traveler she was "stressed" due to a recent divorce. Shortly thereafter, that person called police.

Officers who responded said the woman told them she planned to drop her children off to stay with her sister-in-law because she was a messed-up "drug addict" and that her kids "would probably die" in her care.

A search of the car turned up numerous drug paraphernalia items. The officers also found six grams of meth and 32.8 grams of marijuana packaged in various ways.

Walton said Childers pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony charge of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person, two aggravated misdemeanors charges of child endangerment and possession of methamphetamine and a serious misdemeanor charge for marijuana possession.

The guilty plea was part of an agreement removing one of the neglect charges and allowing Childers to plead to a lesser charge for the meth possession.

Childers, who is being held in the Scott County jail, could face up to 10 years in prison on the felony charge. The other counts carry a possible sentence of 4 1/2 years

10-02-2003, 01:33 PM	#1
Doglips Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Cocoa Florida Posts: 9,088	Mother whose children found playing in Interstate enters plea Yep another mother of the year news story....course Dad's not mentioned..but he should get a prize for letting her keep the kids...probly a jerry spinger story with paternity. Posted on Thu, Oct. 02, 2003 Mother whose children found playing in Interstate enters plea Associated Press DAVENPORT, Iowa - A mother whose children were found playing in traffic at an Interstate 80 rest stop has pleaded guilty to child neglect and drug charges. Sentencing for Michelle G. Childers, 37, of Rapid City, S.D., is set for Oct. 23 in Scott County District Court. Childers was sitting in her car the night of June 27, getting high on methamphetamine while her 3- and 7-year-old children, one of them naked, played unattended, Bettendorf police said. Assistant Scott County Attorney Julie Walton said Wednesday she is recommending prison for Childers, who was on the way from her home in Rapid City to a family member's home in Ohio when she stopped at the rest area. The two children were turned over to the Iowa Department of Human Services immediately after their mother's arrest. They are now living with family members in another state. Police reports state that Childers told another traveler she was "stressed" due to a recent divorce. Shortly thereafter, that person called police. Officers who responded said the woman told them she planned to drop her children off to stay with her sister-in-law because she was a messed-up "drug addict" and that her kids "would probably die" in her care. A search of the car turned up numerous drug paraphernalia items. The officers also found six grams of meth and 32.8 grams of marijuana packaged in various ways. Walton said Childers pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony charge of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person, two aggravated misdemeanors charges of child endangerment and possession of methamphetamine and a serious misdemeanor charge for marijuana possession. The guilty plea was part of an agreement removing one of the neglect charges and allowing Childers to plead to a lesser charge for the meth possession. Childers, who is being held in the Scott County jail, could face up to 10 years in prison on the felony charge. The other counts carry a possible sentence of 4 1/2 years