Mom 'more concerned with taking a shower,' being 'presentable' before reporting autistic daughter missing: Police

A 40-year-old mother in Florida is accused of letting her autistic, nonverbal child wander nearly a third of a mile from home wearing a heavily soiled diaper and one shoe before concerned strangers found the girl wandering alone in a shopping center parking lot.

Amy Brooke Evans was taken into custody earlier this month and charged with one count of child abuse by simple neglect, court records show.

According to a probable cause affidavit from the Leesburg Police Department, officers responded shortly before noon on July 9 to a shopping center in Lake County regarding reports of a child walking alone through the parking lot "with a soiled diaper, wearing one shoe, and no parents seen nearby."

The reporting witness told police she spotted the child wandering through the parking lot and escorted the youngster inside a department store to wait safely. She said the child appeared to be nonverbal and to have "a severe mental disability," and that she and others searched the area for a parent or guardian before calling 911.

Another shopper similarly told investigators the child walked up and knocked on her vehicle window. She said there were no adults nearby and noticed feces smeared on a jacket the child was carrying.

According to the affidavit, officers found the child with fecal residue on the body and clothing. Police also wrote that the child's diaper was "heavily soiled" and "appeared to have not been changed in the last 24 hours."

Investigators further reported observing multiple bruises on the child's arms and legs, along with several wounds to the arms, legs and hands. Because the child is severely autistic and nonverbal, officers summoned paramedics, who transported the child to a hospital for further evaluation.

The affidavit notes that multiple people at the shopping center observed the child wandering outside before police arrived.

While officers were investigating, dispatch received a 911 call from Evans reporting the child missing from a residence about 0.3 miles away. According to police, Evans said she had taken a shower for "no more than an hour" while her boyfriend slept on the couch. When she finished showering and went to change clothes, she realized the child was gone.

Investigators said Evans declined to provide a written statement and gave inconsistent answers about where she lived. Officers also noted that she appeared "apprehensive, fidgeting, leaning excessively, and would 'zone out'" during questioning, behavior they believed suggested she "may have been under the influence of narcotics."

Police further wrote that when asked for a recent picture of the missing child, Evans showed officers only a picture that was taken more than a year prior, and she claimed the child had become autistic and nonverbal "out of the blue."

The affidavit also describes inconsistencies between Evans' account and those given by her boyfriend.

A roommate told investigators Evans did not appear especially concerned after discovering the child was gone and seemed "more concerned with taking a shower first and becoming presentable before calling the police to report the victim missing." The roommate also reportedly told officers that while the child usually had a clean diaper, the youngster "always appears dirty and unkempt" and expressed doubt that Evans knew how to adequately care for the child.

Hospital staff later found what appeared to be a cigarette burn on the child's left arm, according to the affidavit. Medical personnel also documented numerous bruises and scars, though they indicated many of those injuries could have been self-inflicted. Staff further told officers the child's diaper appeared not to have been changed for several hours.

Investigators concluded Evans willfully failed to provide the supervision and care required for a severely autistic, nonverbal child by allowing the youngster to remain unsupervised for about an hour, wander approximately 0.3 miles from home, and remain in a heavily soiled diaper.

She was booked into the Lake County Jail on $10,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court for her arraignment on Aug. 3.

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