After abandoning her kids to go on vacation in Miami, an Ohio mother was found guilty of putting them in risk.
Earlier this month, Dominique Knowles was charged with two charges of endangering minors. A judge decided last week that she had gone to Florida for three days in February, leaving her 10-year-old daughter with her twin children, both of whom were seven years old.
A welfare check was requested by a teacher who was worried about the kids’ welfare. Officers discovered Knowles’ flat in “disarray” when they got there on February 22.
“Garbage, bins and bags were strewn all over the floor,” according to court documents. The kids told an officer that although they didn’t have a phone to call their mother, she had been interacting with them via FaceTime on a MacBook tablet and Nest cameras placed throughout the apartment.
When cops got to the unit, the tablet wasn’t charged or working.
When Knowles came back, police took her into custody. Although she refused to disclose her whereabouts, she told a detective during a police interrogation that she was not out of state.
But when investigators subpoenaed her cell phone records, they discovered that between February 21 and February 23, she made or received 50 calls in Florida.
Investigators spoke with the woman’s friend and mother. They claimed she never informed them of her intention to visit Florida.
According to WKYC, Knowles told police she was going to Miami to help her buddy who was having liposuction surgery, according to Westlake Law Director Michael Maloney.
Knowles stated during her sentence hearing on Wednesday: “I understand what I did was wrong and this absolutely would never happen again. I did believe my kids were able to dress themselves and get themselves to school. I wouldn’t dare let anything happen to my kids. I wish I could go back and change the circumstances.”
Judge Joseph T. Burke of the Rocky River Municipal Court found her guilty despite choosing not to have a jury trial.
“Something bad could’ve happened to the children, they could have started a fire in the apartment, they could have hurt themselves or suffered a medical emergency or they could have been taken by a stranger,” Burke stated.
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“But most of all, they needed their mother to be there and parent them and not do so by remote cameras from Florida.”
Knowles received a five-year probationary sentence and was mandated to participate in mental health treatment and a parenting class. She was placed under home arrest for 360 days and fined $800. WJW said she will be permitted to leave for work.
“I don’t want to further victimize your daughters by separating you from them,” Burke stated to Knowles in court. “It is now time for you to become the mother that your daughters deserve, need and require.”
