SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. — Video obtained exclusively by Local 10 News on Friday shows the moments a 6-year-old boy was found alone at a Sunny Isles Beach park, where police said he had been left by his mother for nearly an hour.
The video shows officers arriving at Town Center Park shortly before 9 p.m. on Saturday and speaking with the boy after a witness alerted them that he was alone.
According to an arrest report, the child told a witness that his mother had left him at the park, he was scared and he had not eaten since breakfast.
The witness told police the boy had been alone for nearly an hour, the report states.
Officers said they spoke with the boy, who told them his mother had left him to get food with a friend, police said. The boy also told officers he was scared and did not want to leave with a stranger, they said.
As officers searched the area for the boy’s mother, 41-year-old Elena Sexton, police said she eventually walked back to the park.
According to the arrest report, Sexton told officers she had parked at a nearby shopping plaza at 17000 Collins Ave. and walked back to get some toys.
Police said Sexton told them she then saw a friend who asked her to sit and have food, and she did so while leaving her son at the park.
The video shows the boy with officers as darkness falls and later shows police taking Sexton into custody.
Jail records show Sexton, who is from Corpus Christi, Texas, was arrested Saturday on a charge of child neglect without great bodily harm.
The Florida Department of Children and Families was contacted, and the boy is now living with Sexton’s mother, authorities confirmed.
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