PORTLAND, Ore., June 30 (UPI) -- A 23-year-old nanny was indicted Friday for leaving two young children inside a minivan in 90-degree heat while she visited a tanning salon in Portland, Ore.
Kristin Marie Jones pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment, recklessly endangering another, first-degree child neglect and one count of driving while suspended.
The charges came after police found a 3-year-old boy and 2-month-old girl "sweating and screaming" inside a Dodge Caravan on May 15. The officer was responding to calls from witnesses saying they saw the two children trapped in the car with the windows rolled up.
The officer was pulling the 3-year-old out of the car when Jones walked out of the Sunblaze Tanning salon. She removed the 2-month-old and they went into the tanning salon. According to the officer's report, he "felt the heat radiating from [the child] through his bullet proof vest."
Jones initially told police she left the children in the car with their mother while she was in the salon. After an official at the Department of Human Services confirmed the mother had been at work all day, Jones admitted that she left the children alone in the car and previously lied because she was "scared."
She will return to court August 15.
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