A recent case in Arizona had a father leave his infant child in the vehicle while he went to work for an hour and smoked marijuana with a friend. The outside temperature was at 100 degrees meaning inside the car it was even hotter. The child was non-responsive when the father found him and efforts to revive the baby failed. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. This man will probably be charged with manslaughter.

Sometimes parents in a hurry will leave their children in a car while they run an errand. This is never a good idea no matter how inconvenient it is for the child to go with the parent. I also hear parents say they left the child in the car because he was napping and they locked the doors. The problem with this is that the child could be subject to harm from heat in the car or other injury; also, what if something happens to the parent and no one knows that a child is alone in the car? Regardless of the reason, in Orange County, unattended children left in vehicles even for short periods of time can result in an arrest for Penal Code Section 273(a) b. Obviously this is a very ugly charge since it falls under the child abuse statute.

In some cases I have been able to get the case dismissed if there are factors in mitigation like the parent was relatively close by and the time the child was left alone was relatively short. Also, the fact that the child was napping may be something considered in mitigation although it is not a defense. A poorly thought out decision is better then no thought being given to leaving the child unattended. Often passersby will see the child unattended and contact authorities. Taking parenting classes also often helps get a favorable result.

The bottom line is that regardless of the season infants should never be left unattended in a car and older children should only be left unattended if they will not be harmed or harm themselves.

An Orange County man was cited by the Sheriff’s Department on April 2nd for leaving his 11-month-old son in the car while he ran into a Trader Joe’s store. Police received a call at 9:43 a.m. regarding a baby left in a van. Deputies found the sleeping boy alone in the vehicle when they arrived on scene at 9:45 a.m. The father returned to his car just minutes later at 9:48 a.m. with some grocery bags in his hands. He said he did not want to wake his son, so that’s why he had left him alone in the car. Child Protective Services (CPS) was informed of the incident as well and will be conducting an investigation. Fortunately, the child was not taken into protective custody at the time and was allowed to go home with his father.

Another case was recently reported of a woman who left her 4-year-old watching a movie unattended in a Range Rover at The Shops at Mission Viejo while she went into the mall. Parents should be careful of leaving their children unattended as they can be charged with child endangerment under California Penal Code Sections 273a (a) or 273a (b). This crime occurs when an individual places a child in a dangerous situation or allows a child to be placed in a dangerous situation without taking steps to protect the child. Because a child left alone in the car could die from heat or be abducted by passerby, it could be considered a “dangerous situation” to leave the child alone in a car.