A Georgia mom was outraged that she was arrested and is now being asked to sign a form pledging "her children would always be under a watchful eye" -- all because she allowed her preteen son to walk less than a mile alone, NBC News reported.
The Fannin County Sheriff's Department picked up Brittany Patterson's then-10-year-old son when they saw him walking alone along a road near his family home. They dropped him off and she thought it was the end of it until deputies returned hours later to arrest her for suspicion of reckless conduct.
"It was anger and frustration, of course, because my children were having to witness that all," the mother-of-four told NBC News. "They asked me to put my hands behind my back and all that stuff, and I realized what was going on."
She posted a $500 bail and was offered to have the charge dropped if she signed a form with a safety plan that pledged her children would always be under a watchful eye.
Patterson refused to sign the form and is contesting the charge.
"This is not right, I did nothing wrong," she said. "I'm going to fight for that."
If she loses, Patterson faces up to one year in prison.
Originally published by Latin Times
