A mum from Florida, US, was arrested during the week for allowing her seven-year-old walk to the park alone.
Nicole Gainey’s son, Dominic, asked for permission to make the 15 minute walk to their local park, she said yes, making sure that he had a mobile phone with him.
While making the walk, Dominic was stopped by strangers who asked where his mum was. Dominic was frightened by all the questions and ran off to the park, but the strangers who questioned him then called the police.
The police soon arrived at the park and brought Dominic back to his mother’s house: "I honestly didn't think I was doing anything wrong. I was letting him go play."
Despite this, the mum was charged with child neglect charges. Police said that they felt justified in their charges, as they said the area was not safe for a little boy to walk alone.
But Nicole said, that she felt her son was mature enough to walk to the park alone: "I'm totally dumbfounded by this whole situation."
While Nicole’s says she plans on fighting the charges, the Florida Department of Children and Families have now revealed that she should "expect the case to be dropped."
