2-Year-Old Left Alone In Freezing Car While Parents Went Skiing

A couple in Vermont has been arrested on charges of child cruelty for leaving their 2-year-old child alone inside a freezing car while they went skiing.

The couple, identified as 21-year-old Katelynn Brent and 29-year-old Cory Ahern, both employees at the Killington Resort, have been arrested for abandoning their child inside their car, while they skied inside the same resort where they worked, CBS News reported.

The deputies responded to the scene after they received a report of a child being "left alone and unattended" inside a vehicle on Feb.8, 2021. The police pulled up the couple's vehicle while they were driving back from the resort. Brent was arrested for drunk driving after a breathalyzer test indicated a result of 0.101, over the legal limit of .08.

Meanwhile, the child was seen seated at the back of the car. However, Brent denied that they left their child unattended in the car and the cops released him with a citation.

An investigation later revealed that both Brent and Ahern were employees of the resort and had ski passes. Further examination of records indicated that they have accessed the ski liftgate 10 times on Feb.8, the day they were stopped by the police.

During interrogation, the couple eventually admitted that they left the kid alone while they skied. However, they told the police that they had checked on the child, in between each ski run.

The car was reportedly turned off while the child was left inside, and the outside temperature was 28 degrees and windy, police said, as reported by The News & Observer.

The police have arrested Brent on charges of driving under the influence and cruelty to a child, while Ahern has been arrested on charges of cruelty to a child.

According to Vermont state law, if convicted, both of them would face a prison term of 2 years each, and a fine of $500 on the cruelty to a child charge.

A woman in Australia was sentenced to prison last week for leaving her infant inside a locked car on a scorching afternoon two years ago while she played bingo for hours at a hotel. The mother, identified as Kaija Millar, 34, from Victoria, has been sentenced to three years for abandoning her 5-month-old child inside the vehicle, causing the infant serious injuries.