Mom Left Her 5 Children Alone For Days While On A Trip To The Beach

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Mother Charged With Child Abandonment After Beach Trip

Some of y’all just really shouldn’t have kids….

One mother from Texas has been charged with child abandonment for leaving her five children at home alone for several days while she traveled to South Carolina last summer, according to an arrest affidavit that was released on Tuesday.

28-year-old Chrystal Nichole Walraven was arrested February 11 on two counts of abandoning or endangering a child, which is a second-degree felony. The children ranged in age from as young as 15 months to 12 years, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

According to the mother, she traveled to Myrtle Beach to investigate a job opportunity, and also “because she needed to get away from everything that was happening at home,” the paper reported. But she had also gone to the beach and visited tourist locations while staying with a male friend, according to the affidavit.

Round Rock Police told Fox 7 Austin that they visited Walraven’s home in late August of last year after her children’s Elementary School principal expressed concern about a student’s living situation. One of Walraven’s children complained to the principal about having to stay up all night to change their younger sibling’s diapers, the station reported.

After visiting the home, police reported that it smelled like garbage and feces, according to Fox 7. The police said there was an infant in a crib near the front door, with four other children found home alone. Officers also found a dirty diaper in a closet, stains on the carpet, flies in the kitchen and multiple knives that the children could access.

According to reports from Fox 7, officers called Child Protective Services and the children were initially placed in foster care, but are now living with relatives.

If convicted, Chrystal Nichole Walraven faces 2-20 years in prison.