SPRING VALLEY WOMAN MISTAKES SON FOR FIDO; FACES MISDEMEANOR

A Spring Valley mother faces a charge of child endangerment for allegedly tying her 4-year old son to a bush while she went to a babysitting job.

Mery Isabel Quinde-Castro, age 22, was arrested after witnesses reported to police that she had left her son tethered to the bush with a 4-foot leash attached to a monkey backpack after he refused to go inside. Witnesses reported the boy was tied to a spot about 200 feet from the building and beyond the sight of his mother for about half an hour. The child has been placed in the custody of a relative.

Though boy did not show any signs of physical abuse or neglect, the length of time he was left outside provide a potential legal basis for charges that he was left in a “potentially injurious” situation.

Quinde-Castro was charged with misdemeanor child endangerment and released on $2,500 bail.