Mother abandons five children under 12 for four days at home while she goes on a beach vacation
A young mother-of-five from Round Rock faces up to 20 years in prison on charges of abandoning her children for four days. 28-year-old, Chrystal Walraven, had reportedly left her children, two boys, between the ages of 12 and 10 with girls, aged three years, six years and 15 months, without any supervision, last year.
The cops had on August 29, 2018, found the house in an utter mess, as the children were alone and had littered the place with feces and garbage. Their abandoned situation had been reported by the Gattis Elementary School principal, who was concerned when the older children claimed that they had to stay up all night looking after their younger siblings.
Their estranged condition left the cops baffled, especially when they almost thought that the infant, who was lying in the crib, covered in a blanket was dead. However, when the 15-month-old was rubbed on the back by one of the officers, the baby girl took a breath, letting out a cry, and it was finally confirmed that she was still alive.
The police were let in by the 10-year-old boy, who led them through the dirty rooms that were splashed with fecal matters and garbage, causing an "overwhelming odor" of feces, according to the cops. What shocked the police was that the children could have easily harmed themselves since they were left with easy access to knives and other harmful things that were lying around.
Police said a #RoundRock woman left her children home alone for several days while she traveled to #SouthCarolina. 28-year-old Chrystal Walraven has been charged with child abandonment. https://t.co/NvSjUol75D pic.twitter.com/XyncxTxCyz
— FOX 7 Austin (@fox7austin) March 9, 2019
An affidavit states that the officers met the two young girls, who were aged between three and six years, as they came out of the bathroom but it seemed that none of the two had taken a proper bath in days.
The officers also found a soiled diaper in the closet of the bedroom and several soiled diapers in the upstairs bathroom.
While Child Protective Services were immediately contacted for assistance, the investigators managed to contact the father of one or more children, who confessed that Walraven had asked him to babysit the kids.
The mother was out on a vacation because she, reportedly, needed to get away with everything that was happening at home. However, the father couldn't arrive but Walraven left the house anyway. Walraven had the house on August 25.
She was due to return on August 28 but didn't make it back until August 30. She claimed her flight was delayed several times and she kept in touch with the kids via Facebook Messenger.
Chrystal Walraven, Round Rock, Texas mother booked on child endangerment after leaving her five young children home alone while going on a four day beach vacation. https://t.co/M6suWTjus3
— Scallywagandvagabond (@ScallywagNYC) March 9, 2019
She had apparently left for Myrtle Beach in South Carolina where she visited another male friend. She later stated that she went there to look for employment opportunities, and also because she needed a break from her early motherhood. Officer Jeffrey Walraven stated that her husband had left weeks ago and went to Arkansas.
However, when she realized that her delayed arrival had caused all the mess, she confessed that she should not have left the children alone at home. She was, after all, the only adult residing in the house. Walraven, who is now charged with a second-degree felony of abandoning her children, told KXAN that she had asked her neighbor and one of the children's fathers to take care of the kids.
"He was supposed to be over here with the kids and he even told him that he was here the night before, um, you know, and that he got them food and everything. Mary was here during the day, she actually had to give them the car seats because she had been taking the kids back and forth to school, like everything. So no, definitely didn't abandon them. They were supposed to be here with the children and did not do that," she said in her defense. As a result of the charges against her, she could be facing from two years to two decades behind bars.
