Mugshot of Rebecca Blaise. By. THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. CROIX — A woman is facing felony child abuse and child neglect charges after she admitted to leaving her minor daughter in the Sunny Isle K-Mart.
According to court documents, police were summoned to the K-Mart in Sunny Isle around 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday by staff members after a 6-year old girl reported that she could not find her mother. Following several attempts to summon the child's mother – Rebecca Blaise – over the intercom, the K-Mart staff said they decided to call police.
While the child was turned over to the care of a social worker, responding officers found Blaise's address and found her at home. When asked if she knew where her daughter was, Blaise reportedly told officers that she had taken her shopping at the Sunny Isle K-Mart. After completing her shopping, she said that she told the girl that it was time to leave, but the child ran away.
Blaise said at that point, she left the store and caught the bus home. She admitted to leaving her daughter behind, saying that the girl refused to listen to her. Police took her to the police station for further questioning, but while there, Blaise reportedly had a medical episode and was taken via ambulance to the Juan F. Luis hospital for treatment.
After being released from the hospital on the morning of December 20, Blaise was arrested and taken to the Wilbur Francis Command police station. While at the station, Blaise reportedly had several other episodes and was unable to complete the booking process. Nevertheless, she was remanded into custody to await her first court appearance.
Blaise appeared before Magistrate Yolan Brow Ross on Friday, and court records indicate that she was granted pre-trial release. However, details of her bail conditions were not available at time of publication.
