A mother in Alaska has been charged after allegedly leaving her child unattended in a car while having a “romantic rendezvous” at a hotel.
The Alaska Department of Public Safety State Troopers division said in a news release that 38-year-old Lillian Johnson was arrested on a first-degree charge of endangering the welfare of a child.
On Tuesday, Mach 18, dispatchers received a call from a concerned citizen who heard a child crying in a parked car. When troopers arrived to investigate, they found a 20-month-old child “abandoned in a car” parked at a local hotel and bar in Healy, Alaska, according to the release.
“The child was crying, the vehicle was off, with a window partly opened with outside temperatures at 6 degrees Fahrenheit,” state troopers said.
EMS personnel were called to the scene, where they “removed the child from the vehicle” and treated the them for “hypothermia.” The child was then transported by medics to “the EMS/Fire Department for additional treatment,” per the release.
“The child was treated for early stages of hypothermia,” state troopers said.
Authorities stated that the child’s mother was not “immediately found” when the toddler was transported for additional medical treatment. However, she “exited the hotel after EMS had already left with her child.”
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Alaska State Troopers launched an investigation into the incident and obtained hotel security video from that night, which allegedly shows that Johnson was inside the hotel for about 35 minutes from approximately 8:18 p.m. local time until 8:53 p.m., “before returning to check on the child” and finding the 20-month-old gone.
Investigators said their investigation found that Johnson had “left her child in the car to have a romantic rendezvous with a guest at the hotel.”
State troopers didn’t provide any other information on the incident or any updates on the child’s status.
Hypothermia in babies occurs when their “body’s temperature drops below 95 degrees Fahrenheit,” per Healthline.
According to St. John Ambulance, babies can develop hypothermia easily because their bodies “have an underdeveloped mechanism for maintaining their own body temperature.” Signs of hypothermia in an infant include blotchy skin, being cold to the touch and being limp.
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