MANSFIELD — A Mansfield woman was charged after an 8-year-old child was found alone on the street by a Madison Local Schools bus driver.
Crystal Sylvester, 51, was issued a summons for endangering children when she woke up on Wednesday morning to discover an 8-year-old child was not in his room at their home, but instead had been found walking on the street outside with no coat or shoes.
According to a report from the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, on Wednesday morning shortly after 8 a.m. a Madison Schools bus driver had picked up a child because he was not wearing a coat or shoes. The National Weather Service recorded the temperature at 24 degrees shortly before 8 a.m. on Wednesday.
The bus driver, Jenny Jones, had picked up the 8-year-old victim in the area of 274 Michigan Avenue. Jones told the Sheriff’s deputy the victim would not answer questions such as his name or address, but that he did not ride her bus and she did not believe he attended Madison Schools.
According to the sheriff deputy’s report, the victim was observed to be shivering and appeared to be very cold.
“I carried (the victim) to my car and turned on the heat,” the deputy stated in the report. “(The victim) was acting confused and was mumbling words.”
Madison Township EMS arrived and transported the victim to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, while Child Protective Services was contacted.
At approximately 9:25 a.m. OhioHealth contacted Sylvester and asked if the child was home or if she knew where he was. Sylvester advised the child was sleeping in his room.
Approximately five minutes later the deputy called Sylvester back and advised she go into the room to check on the child. She then responded, “Oh my God he is gone.”
Later at OhioHealth, Sylvester stated she last saw the child at 4 a.m. on Wednesday morning. When asked why she didn’t wake the child up for school on Wednesday morning, Sylvester stated she overslept her 7:30 a.m. alarm. She also noted she had bells on the child’s door so she would be alerted if he left his room.
Child Protective Services noted Sylvester had a history of leaving the child unsupervised.
