OVIEDO, Fla. – A 49-year-old woman faces charges after she left a sleeping child on a hot daycare bus for over an hour on Monday, according to Oviedo police.
Police said they responded to All About Kidz, located at 38 West Broadway Street, around 3 p.m. on Tuesday in response to an open Florida Department of Children and Families case.
According to an arrest report, a child was “left on the daycare’s bus alone in the heat for an extended period of time.”
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During the DCF and police investigation, it was determined the child was left sleeping on the bus, which was turned off and left unattended in the business’ parking lot, for about an hour and two minutes.
Investigators said Barbara Ledbetter, 49, did not check the bus after arriving at the daycare and letting the children exit the vehicle.
“That’s their responsibility to make sure that all the children are off the bus before they lock it and shut it off,” Oviedo police Lt. Adam Egert told News 6.
According to the report, she is required to physically go to the back of the bus and visually check the seats, which she allegedly did not do. Ledbetter is also accused of signing a log saying that she did check the bus.
Police said the child fell asleep on the bus and did not realize the other passengers exited the bus, later waking up “very hot” with trouble breathing.
A parent walking by the bus noticed the child banging on a window, according to the report.
Police said Ledbetter was arrested and transported to the Seminole County Jail. She faces charges of child neglect without great bodily harm and has since bonded out.
“Parents: put something in the back with your child, whether it’s a purse, some kind of personal item you’re going to need that forces you to go to the back of the car,” Egert urged.
In addition, Egert confirmed there were no medical issues with the child.
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