Inset: Ricindy Seaphin (Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center). Background: The Florida location where Seaphin is accused of leaving his 6-year-old stepson (Google Maps).
A Florida stepfather is facing a child neglect charge after police say he left his 6-year-old stepson by himself outside the child’s mother’s apartment, even though he knew she would not be there. Authorities said 32-year-old Ricindy Seaphin told investigators he was “in a rush.”
Seaphin was taken into custody Tuesday evening and charged with one count of child neglect without great bodily harm, police records show.
North Miami Police Department officers were called to an apartment complex on Memorial Highway at 6:42 p.m. after receiving a report that a young child had been left without adult supervision. Investigators said Seaphin had been responsible for the boy at the time because he picked him up from school and drove him to the apartment complex.
According to the affidavit, the child’s mother had asked Seaphin to pick up her son from school and had already informed him that she would not be home.
But rather than escorting the boy to the apartment and confirming that a responsible adult was present, Seaphin “intentionally dropped the six-year-old victim off in front of the apartment complex and left the location,” police wrote in the probable cause affidavit.
“The victim then left the apartment complex and walked to the Family Dollar located at 280 NE 135th Street, where he approached unknown individuals and asked for help and for someone to contact the police,” the affidavit states. “A witness located the victim and assisted him back to his apartment. After determining that no one was inside the apartment, the witness remained with the victim, provided him with food and care, and contacted law enforcement.”
Seaphin later returned to the apartment complex and agreed to speak with officers after he was advised of his Miranda rights.
“The defendant admitted that he was in a rush and intentionally dropped the victim off in front of the apartment complex without verifying that anyone was home,” police wrote in the affidavit. “The defendant further admitted that he normally walks the victim to the apartment door and turns him over to his mother but failed to do so on this occasion.”
Police determined that Seaphin dropped the child off at the empty apartment around 3:20 p.m. The witness did not find him until about 4:15 p.m., meaning the 6-year-old was unaccompanied by an adult for roughly 55 minutes.
Following the interview, officers arrested Seaphin and took him to the North Miami Police Department for processing before transporting him to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He was released after posting bond of $2,500, records show.
The post Stepdad ‘in a rush’ abandoned 6-year-old outside empty apartment, leaving boy to seek help from strangers at Family Dollar: Police first appeared on Law & Crime.
