Single Mother-of-Five Arrested for Letting 14-Year-Old Daughter Babysit During COVID Lockdowns: 4-Year-Old Sibling Wandered From House But Found Safe at Friend’s House 15 Minutes Later

COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions have made things brutally difficult for working-class parents needing childcare.

The insane policies over the past two years forced parents to make tough decisions for the proper arrangements for their kids while putting food on the table.

Melissa Henderson, a single mother-of-five, is a prime example.

100 Percent Fed Up explains:

Over 16,000 childcare providers permanently closed their doors during the pandemic due to covid restrictions and rising labor costs caused by the Biden regime’s inflation.  The closures have left many working parents without childcare, causing them to stay home or come up with alternate solutions.  One single working mother allowed her 14-year-old daughter to babysit her 4-year-old son while she was at work.  The child got out of the house for a brief 15 minutes to visit his friend, the parents of his friend called the police.  The police took down her information and returned two weeks later, arrested the mother in front of her children.

https://twitter.com/_AbolishPolice_/status/1491442411540971521

Parents being arrested for letting a 14 year old watch their siblings is a gross violation of their rights. Support the family here: 14 Yr. Old at Home – Melissa Henderson arrested https://t.co/kgP8CLI6ov

— Britt 🧂 (@TweetsByBritt) February 8, 2022

About 10 min later, the 14-yr-old realized her little brother was gone, guessed that he was at the neighbor's house, and went and got him. But by then, the neighbor had called the police. This is where the story gets INSANE & INFURIATING. 2/

— John Daniel Davidson (@johnddavidson) February 9, 2022

Here's a view from Henderson's front porch. The neighbor's house is on the right. (When Henderson protested that the boy was only gone a few minutes, Deputy Sheriff Marc Pilote idiotically replied that a few minutes was all the time a venomous snake needed.) 4/ pic.twitter.com/vv6fmcWICr

— John Daniel Davidson (@johnddavidson) February 9, 2022

From the @reason article, it seems clear that Langley is either a complete fool or woefully uninformed about a case that has totally upended the life of a single mother and her 5 children in his community. 6/ pic.twitter.com/Z65VJXCmOl

— John Daniel Davidson (@johnddavidson) February 9, 2022

Here's a fundraising page for the Henderson family. What happened to this single mother of 5 could have happened to any of us. It's wrong, it's tyrannical, and it needs to stop. fin/ https://t.co/rIR3lqNNzG

— John Daniel Davidson (@johnddavidson) February 9, 2022

The Daily Mail reported:

A single mother faces one year in prison after she let her 14-year-old daughter babysit her siblings while she went to work at the beginning of the pandemic – an act some are calling ‘reckless,’ and others defend as the act of a desperate mother.

Melissa Henderson, a single mother-of-five, is charged with criminal reckless conduct after she let her children under the care of her eldest child, 14-year-old Linley, in May 2020 when COVID shut down their daycare center.

Linley was reportedly engaging in online learning and did not notice that her four-year-old brother, Thaddeus, had slipped out of the house when he saw his friend outside and went to play with him in Blairsville, Georgia.

Within about 10 to 15 minutes, Linley noticed he was gone and found him at his friend’s house down the street.

But the friend’s mom called the police, and about two weeks later, Henderson was arrested in front of her children, according to Reason Magazine:

Now Henderson, a single mom in Blairsville, Georgia, is facing criminal reckless conduct charges for letting her 14-year-old babysit. The charges carry a maximum penalty of one year in prison and fine of $1,000. The arresting officer, Deputy Sheriff Marc Pilote, wrote in his report that anything terrible could have happened to Thaddeus, including being kidnapped, run over, or “bitten by a venomous snake.” (When Henderson protested that the kid was only gone a few minutes, Pilote responded that a few minutes was all the time a venomous snake needed.)

Gateway Pundit noted:

The case has been in the court system for two years. Henderson’s lawyer claims the charges are unconstitutional.  A Georgia Supreme Court ruling in 1997 threw out the prosecution of a parent who left their child at home, allowing their older sibling to watch over them when they died in a tragic accident.  The court claimed that the decision could not be seen as ‘reckless conduct’, since it is a decision that many parents make on a regular basis.

11Alive shared this video report last year:

A GoFundMe page supporting the Henderson family states:

Adding insult to injury and making this arrest and prosecution lacking entirely in probable cause, the Georgia DFCS Guidelines state:

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“Children thirteen years and older, who are at an adequate level of maturity, may be left alone and may perform the role of babysitter, as authorized by the parent, for up to twelve hours.”

Why then arrest Melissa, an arrest that included booking, fingerprints, mug shot, and being placed in a holding cell?

Why then a year later bring the Accusation and require defense of the charges in the Superior Court?

Everything about this case against Henderson is utterly ridiculous, and Georgia authorities should immediately drop the tyrannical charges.

The prosecutors and arresting officers are making life even more challenging for a single mother-of-five to make ends meet during a time of nonsensical restrictions.

It’s despicable that Henderson has endured this insanity going on two years for something that has likely happened to millions of families.