Amber Nicole Thompson (Craighead County Sheriff’s Office)
A 33-year-old mother in Arkansas was arrested earlier this week for allegedly forcing her 7-year-old son to walk about eight miles to his elementary school after the child missed the bus and telling authorities that it was “not her problem.”
Amber Nicole Thompson was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with one count of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and one count of second-degree domestic battery, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Deputies with the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office responded on the morning of April 2 to a call at Craighead 457 Road regarding a 7-year-old boy found walking alone along Craighead 476 Road, Jonesboro, Arkansas, ABC and NBC affiliate KAIT reported. The caller told deputies he owned a farm shop and was feeding his horse when the little boy approached him.
The child told the man that he was walking to his elementary school, Valley View School, after missing the bus, Jonesboro Right Now reported. The school is about seven miles from where the child was found.
The boy reportedly told deputies that the previous night he was forced to go to bed without eating dinner because he had gotten in trouble. He added that if he missed school, he would get in trouble again.
The child said he also had two younger siblings, a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old, who lived with him at home.
Deputies then transported the child back to his home, opening the unlocked front door after getting no response from knocking, JRN reported. The deputies began looking through the home and found Thompson sleeping in one of the bedrooms.
When deputies questioned her about the child not being fed the previous night because he’d been in trouble, she allegedly confirmed that was the case. She also reportedly explained that she told her son last night that he should set an alarm so he would wake up in time to catch the bus, adding that “it was not her problem” if he was forced to walk to the school, which was 71/2 miles from their home.
Deputies remained with the 7-year-old while Thompson was transported to the Craighead County Detention Center. Case workers with the Arkansas Department of Human Services arrived a short while later to speak with all three of Thompson’s children.
Authorities said that while they were speaking with the kids, they discovered “numerous bruises” on the 3-year-old’s face, back, butt, and arms, JRN reported. The children’s father admitted that he had spanked the 3-year-old for lying a few days earlier but claimed that the other bruises likely came from his older brother.
Thompson was released on Wednesday after posting bond of $50,000, jail records show. She is set to appear in court for her arraignment on May 24 in Craighead County Circuit Court.
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