NC mom accused of abandoning kids on side of road
Jennifer Westfall is accused of abandoning her two children on the side of the road. (Source: City-County Bureau of Identification)
WAKE COUNTY, NC - A North Carolina mom is accused of leaving her two young children on a roadside and speeding away.
Jennifer Westfall, 38, is charged with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse, according to an arrest warrant. According to Cary police, Westfall dropped her 9-year-old and 19-month-old children off on the side of Reedy Creek Road on October 2. She was arrested Monday.
Police say a woman taking her child to Reedy Creek Elementary witnessed the incident. She then picked the two children up, and took them to the school.
School administrators alerted the school resource officer who in turn called Child Protective Services.
The mother told WTVD that she drove into the school's campus, dropped her kids off, and watched a woman take them by the hand, which she thought was a legal way to abandon the children.
"I know what I did was wrong but I just, I was so tired of doing this by myself. I have the strength to do what I need to do but I don't have the skills to make the income that I need to take care of my family, and nobody will hire me," Westfall told WTVD. "I've been around everywhere. And with these charges I just don't see how I'm ever getting my kids back."
In North Carolina, only infants a few days old can be left with another adult in order to be considered legal, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Westfall is due in court next month. Her children are in foster care, according to police.