Children, 2 and 3, found alone in apartment
Published: August 2, 2012
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ST. CROIX - Police arrested a 22-year-old woman Tuesday afternoon on charges that she left her two toddlers home alone.
Christi Giffard, of JFK housing community was arrested on two counts of child neglect after police said her children, ages 2 and 3, were found alone in the apartment without electricity.
According to a police report by V.I. Police Detective Deborah Jack, a housing community resident called police to report that the toddlers had been crying for more than an hour and no one had been attending to them.
When police officers arrived at the apartment, they saw the children looking through a window in the home, crying, Jack said. One officer jumped onto the balcony of the apartment and coaxed the older child to unlock the door, according to Jack.
When officers entered the home, the children were not clean, the house was in a state of disarray and there was no electricity, Jack said.
The children were placed in the custody of the V.I. Human Services Department, Jack said.
At Giffard's advice-of-rights hearing Wednesday, Magistrate Judge Miguel Camacho said she could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Camacho set bail at $10,000 and allowed Giffard to be released after signing an unsecured bond in the amount of bail. She is scheduled to be formally charged during an arraignment hearing Aug. 15.
- Contact Fiona Stokes at 714-9149 or email fstokes@dailynews.vi.
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