Mother Arrested After Leaving Her 4-Year-Old Son Outside Tied To A Bush

A mother was arrested after tying her child to a bush outside a Rockland County, New York, home and leaving him alone.

Mom Leaves Boy Tied To Bush

Mery Isabel Quinde-Castro, 22, was arrested and charged with child endangerment on Tuesday after neighbors saw her 4-year-old son, tied to a bush outside. The boy was wearing a leash backpack, which Quinde-Castro used to tether him to the plant. Neighbors called the police who promptly arrested the mother and charged her with child endangerment.

Quinde-Castro claims she only left her son outside for 10 minutes, or so, but investigators say that the boy was likely outside for around 30 minutes. Quinde-Castro allegedly tied her son to the bush as a sort of time-out while she went inside the apartment building to babysit other children. The apartment was reportedly about 200 feet away, and did not allow Quinde-Castro to see her son.

“Her child, this 4 1/2-year-old boy, did not want to go into the apartment. So she tied him to the bush until she could get him into the apartment,” explained Spring Valley Police Chief Paul Modica.

Modica added that residents of the apartment complex said that they had seen Quinde-Castro and her son before, calling him “rambunctious” and adding that he “didn’t want to go inside.”

The son is in the custody of a relative and Quinde-Castro was let go on a $2,500 bail posted by her sister, Rosa Quinde-Castro, who insisted that her sister was a “good mother.” Rosa also claimed that the son had behavioral issues.

Quinde-Castro will appear in court on Thursday.