When a married couple with children decides to end their relationship, it often isn’t the material items that bring out the strongest emotions during the proceedings: it’s the kids. Child custody battles tend to instigate some of the most heated battles during a divorce. The arguments that ensue can leave a family irreparably damaged.
While many of those arguments may happen in court or in front of an attorney, that is not always the case. And in some instances, they don’t always occur between the parents. That is what happened to a mother from Painseville, Ohio, while she was driving her two daughters.
The 35-year-old woman was driving along State Route 2 with her daughters, 11 and 15, a few months ago. She got into an argument with her youngest daughter about her custody; the daughter said that she wanted to live with her father, and the discussion reportedly turned sour after that. The mother pulled over to the side of the road and the 11-year-old girl exited the vehicle. The older daughter followed suit.
State Route 2 is known for being a busy roadway. The mother of the two girls yelled for the girls to get back in the vehicle, but they chose not to do so. Authorities reported that the woman then drove away from the scene and the girls called their father, who came and picked them up.
The woman was charged with child endangerment. She entered a plea of no contest and was found guilty. The woman was sentenced to 180 days in jail, but 175 of those days were suspended. She has been given the opportunity to do 40 hours of community service in order to avoid jail time. In addition to her sentence, the mother was fined $250 and will be on probation for six months.
Source: Fox 8, “Mother Sentenced After Leaving Daughters On Side Of Road,” Dan Jovic, June 25, 2012
