A Florida mother broke down in tears before a judge who condemned her over allegations that she left her four young children alone while taking a multi-day cruise.
Nathalie Belizaire, 29, is accused of leaving the children—including a newborn—unsupervised at their North Miami Beach home while she traveled to the Bahamas on Friday.
Belizaire appeared in court on Tuesday before Judge Mindy Glazer, who expressed disbelief as she read through the allegations.
As the mother wiped her tears with her orange jail uniform, Judge Glazer could be heard saying, “We are just grateful nothing happened to these kids.”
“Who leaves four little kids alone?” the judge asked. Belizaire’s attorney sought to emphasize that the claims remained allegations, but Glazer responded that police had “arrested her disembarking from the cruise ship.”
Officers from the North Miami Beach Police Department arrested Belizaire on Monday after meeting her as she got off the Carnival Conquest. Police said the father of one of the children had reported that the siblings were home alone.
The father of Belizaire’s two-month-old child reportedly became concerned after seeing her post about the cruise on social media. Belizaire had told him that all four children were staying with their great-grandmother.
According to the arrest report, the father went to Belizaire’s apartment on Saturday night. He told police that he could see a television on inside and hear the children talking, but Belizaire was nowhere to be found.
Florida mother Nathalie Belizaire, 29, allegedly left her children alone at her North Miami Beach home over the weekend while she took a Carnival Conquest cruise to the Bahamas
Belizaire wiped away tears with her orange jail uniform during her Tuesday appearance before Judge Mindy Glazer
First responders forced their way into the home and found “all four minor children inside without adult supervision,” according to the arrest document.
Police said the children were discovered “hiding together in the bathroom.”
Authorities have not disclosed the ages of all four children, but said one was two months old and another was two years old.
After Belizaire’s arrest, her attorney told NBC6 that she denied the accusations, saying: “Of course she (denies the charges)…. One baby, the baby was born in July of this year. Who leaves a baby alone like that?”
Police alleged that Belizaire had arranged for the children to stay with their great-grandmother. However, investigators said the relative told them Belizaire never arrived with the children before departing on the cruise.
Belizaire also allegedly sent her brother a text message asking him to check on the children during the weekend.
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The arrest was not Belizaire’s first encounter with law enforcement. She was arrested in January of last year after allegedly pepper-spraying a neighbor in the face.
“Who leaves four little kids alone?” the astonished judge asked
Belizaire allegedly left her children alone at her North Miami Beach home, where police said all four were found hiding together in a bathroom
In that earlier case, police accused Belizaire of attacking her neighbor amid claims that the neighbor had harassed her daughter.
The two women got into a verbal altercation before Belizaire allegedly went to her apartment and retrieved a can of pepper spray, before unloading it in the neighbor’s eyes.
Belizaire was charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. The status of that case is unclear.
When she was arrested for allegedly abandoning her children, Belizaire was reportedly initially taken into custody by US Customs and Border Protection.
She was then handed over to local police, and she is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami. Belizaire is now facing four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm.
At her first court appearance, officials said Belizaire declined to provide a statement to investigators and invoked her right to remain silent.
Belizaire’s bond was set at $10,000, as a judge admonished her for allegedly abandoning the children.
Belizaire was met off the ship by officers in Miami after the four-day cruise (stock image)
Belizaire’s arrest this week is not her first brush with the law. In January last year, she was arrested for allegedly pepper-spraying a neighbor in the face
‘You cannot make this up. It says she went on a cruise and left her children home alone,’ Glazer said during the hearing, per NBC6.
‘These poor kids, four of them, were home alone for three days… I’m just grateful nothing worse happened to these kids.’
