Day Care Worker Who Left Toddlers Alone In Bay Shore Mall Gets Probation
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A former day care worker who admitted she abandoned two children at a Long Island mall to "teach them a lesson'' has been sentenced to probation.
Nicole Noble of Brooklyn pleaded guilty in July to child abandonment and endangerment charges. She was sentenced Thursday in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead.
Day Care Worker Sentenced For Leaving Kids Alone In Mall
The 35-year-old was arrested last December after police said she took a 2-year-old boy and 3-year-old girl from Brooklyn to the South Shore Mall in Bay Shore. The children, who are not related, were found playing alone.
Noble said she left them behind because they misbehaved and played hide-and-seek.
The children wandered around the mall for more than 30 minutes before security guards helped them, authorities said.
Outside of court Noble told WCBS 880's Sophia Hall, "I just want to say I am very sorry for what has happened, that's all."
Even though the prosecutor asked for jail time, State Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro instead sentenced Noble to five years probation with orders that she cannot be a child care provider, and must continue her mental illness treatment.
Noble is already receiving treatment for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, Hall reported.
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