Mother arrested for child neglect after leaving children without water or a phone in filthy home for over 7 hours

Staff report

NEWBERRY, Fla. – Sarah Elizabeth Patterson, 35, was arrested last night after allegedly leaving her children alone in a filthy home for over seven hours without food, water, or a way to call for help in an emergency. A man was arrested at the same address about two weeks ago for entering a building on a neighboring property to fill a gallon jug with water; he told a deputy at that time that he was getting water because “the children who live at the residence do not have access to water.” He is still in the Alachua County Jail.

On August 2, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to a property in the 16700 block of NW 32nd Avenue, where Animal Services had requested assistance because two children were found unattended in a residence. The children, 10 and 11 years old, reportedly said their mother had left at about 3 p.m. to give a friend a ride to High Springs.

The children reportedly said they had no access to a phone, and the deputy found no fresh food or water anywhere in the home; he wrote that the children said they drank all the water that was left for them, and they’d only had one meal, earlier in the day. The deputy noted, “Previous reports advised the children have [resorted] to stealing water from the neighbor’s well in order to [survive].”

The deputy also noted that there were propane tanks in the kitchen, readily accessible to the children, along with a machete on the kitchen table and open needles in a bedroom. The deputy wrote, “Each bedroom was littered with soiled toilet paper and bags [filled with] feces, due to the toilets not operating properly. The walls and floors of the residence have months of buildup [of] dirt and grime due to lack of cleaning; the boys state no one cleans in the residence, and they are used to the way [the] house is kept.”

One child had a laceration on his left foot from stepping on debris, and the deputy noted that there was still blood on the floor from the injury, which had occurred several days before.

Patterson reportedly did not return until 9:30 p.m., after the Department of Children and Families investigator contacted her.

Post Miranda, Patterson reportedly said she was aware of the situation in the home, but she “expressed the concerns of moving away from the home” and said she’d gotten food for the boys before she left at 2 p.m.

Patterson has been charged with two counts of child neglect without great bodily harm. She has no local criminal history; the documents that provide criminal history and bail are not posted for crimes involving children. She has been released from the Alachua County Jail.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.