By Luke Jones, ABC13 Houston.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A north Harris County woman has been charged with abandoning her children for the second time in the last year, according to court records.
Vinkia Olive, 25, was already out on bond for a child abandonment charge when her 2-year-old son was spotted walking alone Sunday evening.
A security guard at the rental home community where Olive lives on West Road near Veterans Memorial told Harris County sheriff’s deputies Olive’s son was barefoot, crying, and wearing only a diaper.
The security guard said that when he returned the boy to his home, the door was wide open and multiple other children were alone inside.
A 10-year-old reportedly told deputies that their mom had been gone for two hours.
“Your kids shouldn’t be left alone,” said Dr. Glenn Wilkerson, president of The ARK Group, which offers parenting classes. “A 2-year-old? And she left the door open? I mean, that’s just criminal.”
Last June, prosecutors say Olive left four children under the age of nine home alone with access to knives.
Her attorney told Eyewitness News that it wasn’t what it sounded like, but said he wasn’t able to share specifics.
In Sunday’s case, Olive allegedly told deputies that she had gotten food poisoning and had left her kids to get medication.
“To leave kids alone, even to go take care of some medical situation. You just don’t do that. You just don’t do that. You make some other arrangements so that the kids are safe while you’re gone,” said Wilkerson.
When Eyewitness News knocked at Olive’s door, two young children answered.
A woman eventually came to the door but wouldn’t identify herself, and when asked about the allegations, said, “I don’t know nothing about that.”
Deputies say CPS told them Sunday that they already had an open case on Olive and that the children would go to their grandmother.
Court documents don’t specify what actions CPS took after last year’s arrest.
“The Department of Family and Protective Services has no public record to share because specific details of CPS investigations are confidential according to law,” the agency told Eyewitness News in a statement.
“The kids ought to be removed,” said Wilkerson.
In addition to the two child abandonment charges, Olive is also fighting a charge of engaging in organized criminal activity from last year.
Prosecutors said that she stole more than $30,000 worth of merchandise from Bath and Body Works.
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This story comes from our news partner ABC13 Houston.