Staff report
NEWBERRY, Fla. – Sarah Elizabeth Patterson, 35, was arrested last night after deputies said she left her two children alone for more than seven hours in a dirty home with no food, no water, and no way to call for help if an emergency occurred. About two weeks earlier, a man was arrested at the same address after allegedly going into a building on a neighboring property to fill a gallon jug with water. He told a deputy then that he was trying to get water because “the children who live at the residence do not have access to water.” He remains in the Alachua County Jail.
On August 2, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy was called to a property in the 16700 block of NW 32nd Avenue after Animal Services requested assistance. According to the report, two children, ages 10 and 11, were found unattended inside the residence. The children reportedly told the deputy their mother had left around 3 p.m. to drive a friend to High Springs.
The children also reportedly said they had no access to a phone. The deputy wrote that he could not find any fresh food or water inside the home. According to the report, the children said they had already drunk all the water that had been left for them and had eaten only one meal earlier that day. The deputy added, “Previous reports advised the children have [resorted] to stealing water from the neighbor’s well in order to [survive].”
Inside the home, the deputy reported finding propane tanks in the kitchen within easy reach of the children, as well as a machete on the kitchen table and open needles in a bedroom. He described the living conditions as severely unsanitary, writing, “Each bedroom was littered with soiled toilet paper and bags [filled with] feces, due to the toilets not operating properly. The walls and floors of the residence have months of buildup [of] dirt and grime due to lack of cleaning; the boys state no one cleans in the residence, and they are used to the way [the] house is kept.”
One of the children had a cut on his left foot from stepping on debris, according to the report. The deputy noted that blood from the injury, which had happened several days earlier, was still on the floor.
Patterson reportedly did not return to the residence until about 9:30 p.m., after an investigator with the Department of Children and Families contacted her.
After being read her Miranda rights, Patterson reportedly told the deputy she knew about the conditions inside the home. However, she “expressed the concerns of moving away from the home” and said she had gotten food for the boys before leaving at 2 p.m.
Patterson has been charged with two counts of child neglect without great bodily harm. She has no local criminal history; the documents that provide criminal history and bail are not posted for crimes involving children. She has been released from the Alachua County Jail.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
