FANNIN COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia mother is facing jail time because her 10-year-old son walked into town by himself.
Body camera video shows the moments that deputies showed up at Brittany Patterson’s door.
On Oct. 30, Patterson said she took one of her children to the doctor.
In the meantime, her son, Soren, who has since turned 11 decided to walk less than a mile into town from their home in rural Mineral Bluff, Georgia.
While out, Patterson got a call from the sheriff’s department worried that Soren was walking alone.
“I wasn’t, you know, panicking or concerned, because it’s just a short walk from our house. He knows how to get home; he knows how to get there,” Patterson said on the video.
Authorities dropped Soren off at home and five hours later they returned.
“What am I under arrest for?” Patterson asked the arresting deputies.
“For reckless endangerment,” a deputy replied.
“And how was I recklessly endangering my child?” Patterson asked.
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“Call Marmi and tell them they’re taking me to jail because you decided to walk down the street,” Patterson told her family.
“That’s not his fault. You’re the mother, that’s your responsibility,” a deputy told her.
“Anytime I checked it wasn’t illegal for a kid to walk to the store,” Patterson told the deputy.
“It is when they’re 10 years old,” the deputy said.
Patterson was booked on suspicion of reckless conduct, a charge that could carry one year in jail.
The arrest warrant against her claims she: “Willingly and knowingly did endanger the bodily safety of her juvenile son.”
“Our criminal justice systems are built on the fact that you did something, or you were negligent. You did something criminally negligent. So, what is it she did?” Patterson’s attorney David Delugas said.
Authorities have offered to drop the charge if Patterson signs a safety plan that includes use of a GPS tracker on her son’s phone.
But she refused to sign it or admit to doing anything wrong.
“I just felt like I couldn’t sign that and that in doing so, would, you know, be agreeing that there was something unsafe about my home or something unsafe about my parental decisions, and I just don’t believe that,” Patterson said.
Patterson is out of jail on bail awaiting to see if prosecutors will indict her on the reckless conduct charge.
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