NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – A woman was arrested Wednesday after the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office Human Trafficking Task Force received a tip that she allegedly trafficked one of her three children near a North Miami park.
“This is horrific based on what I have read here,” Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer said in court Thursday. “It’s horrible.”
According to an arrest report, Beverly Barton, 45, faces charges of child neglect and providing false information to law enforcement.
Police said they questioned Barton after they noticed that three of her children, between the ages of 8 and 14, appeared to be “unbathed, had a foul odor and were wearing dirty clothes.”
At that time, detectives said Barton gave police a fake name and identified herself as “Evelyn Martin.”
She also told police her children were enrolled in Miami-Dade Public Schools’ virtual program. However, detectives revealed there were no records of the children attending any school.
Her arrest report states she also gave detectives the wrong gender of her children when speaking to police.
“The two she described as boys are really girls,” Glazer said. “They are not in school and have never been enrolled in school. Why isn’t this three counts of child neglect?”
The eldest child, who police said is a 14-year-old girl, revealed to detectives she has been sexually assaulted multiple times. In one of those incidents, the girl’s mother (Barton) was the alleged suspect, the report stated.
The report also states that Barton had previously left the teen alone when she went to purchase alcohol, an allegation that she denied while in court.
Jail records show this isn’t Barton’s first time facing a court regarding child neglect.
“I see she had a prior conviction for child neglect back in 2002,” said Glazer.
It was also revealed in court that the Florida Department of Children and Families had previously removed six children from her custody.
As of Thursday, Barton remained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $5,500 bond.
Glazer ordered Barton to stay away from her three children.