Background: A Sylvan Learning Center in Brookfield, Wisc. (Google Maps). Inset: Flor Escalante (Waukesha County Sheriff”s Department).

Flor Escalante, 44, faced charges of child abandonment and neglect following an event that occurred a year ago. The incident involved her then 12-year-old son. Court documents reveal that Escalante admitted to the abandonment charge on Thursday, leading to the dismissal of the neglect charge. She received a sentence of two years probation.

The episode unfolded on November 8, 2024, as Escalante was driving her son to a Sylvan Learning Center in Brookfield. During the journey, an argument about grades escalated, prompting Escalante to pull over on the side of the I-94 highway. She ordered her son out of the car, leaving him to walk the remaining distance. The drop-off occurred approximately two miles from the center, and he was not dressed appropriately for the 50-degree Fahrenheit weather.

The situation was perilous, with heavy traffic and vehicles traveling at speeds up to 70 miles per hour. Alarmed motorists contacted 911 after spotting a child, appearing to be around 10 or 12 years old, crying on the shoulder of the road. He reportedly did not know his parents’ names. Authorities eventually located the boy and took him to the learning center, where Escalante was waiting.

When questioned by police, Escalante explained that her son did not appreciate her efforts and that she wanted him to walk to grasp the concept of labor. She claimed she attempted to retrieve her son but could not locate him, deciding instead to wait for him at the learning center, assuming that officers would bring him there.

Escalante told police that her son “didn’t appreciate everything [she] did for him,” and that she made him walk the final two miles “so he can understand what labor is.” She said she turned her car around to retrieve her son, but she could not find him, so she went to the learning center to meet him there. Escalante said she “just assumed that officers would bring him back to her.”