A North Carolina single mother has been charged with child abuse after she abandoned her nine-year-old daughter and 19-month-old baby son on the side of a road.
Jennifer Westfall, 38, of Wake County, cried as she recounted how she regretted leaving her children on the campus of Reedy Creek Elementary on October 2 because she couldn’t continue caring for them alone.
But she may never be able to get them back following her charges.
‘I feel terrible about what I did. I’ve always had my kids’ back no matter what. I was just so tired. Absolutely tired,’ she said to WAFF48.
North Carolina single mother Jennifer Westfall, 38, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse after she abandoned her nine-year-old daughter and 19-month-old son on the side of the road of Reedy Creek Elementary on October 2
‘I know that it was wrong but I’ve always fought for my kids my whole life. I always fought for them. I fight no matter what. I always tried to do it on my own. But I just can’t do it on my own,’ she added.
She said that after she abandoned her children she saw a woman, another parent who was taking her children to school, scoop them up and take them into the school.
Westfall said she knew her kids were safe with the stranger and drove off. She claimed she believed it was a legal way to abandon children.
She said she left them on their own because she couldn’t financially support them as she does not have a job.
‘I have the strength to do what I need to do but I don’t have the skills to make the income that I need to take care of my family, and nobody will hire me,’ she said.
She justified her actions saying: ‘I always tried to do it on my own. But I just can’t do it on my own’
She tearfully said ‘I feel terrible about what I did’ and believed it was legal to abandon the kids and see another adult pick them up
She abandoned her kids in front of Reedy Creek Elementary in Wake County, North Carolina on October 2. A parent found the children and brought them into the school. The school pictured above
But in North Carolina only infants a few days old can be left with another adult legally.
School administrators then alerted the school resource officer who called Child Protective Services (CPS).
CPS and Cary police launched an investigation and Westfall was arrested on Monday in her Fuquay-Varina home.
She was charged with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse. She was released that night and is due in court next month.
Her children were taken into CPS custody and are now safe in foster homes.
‘I’ve been around everywhere. And with these charges I just don’t see how I’m ever getting my kids back,’ she said.