A Georgia mom was angry when she was arrested and is now being forced to sign a form pledging “her children would always be under a watchful”eye”—all because she let her preteen son walk less than a mile alone, according to NBC News.
The Fannin County Sheriff’s Department apprehended Brittany Patterson’s then-10-year-old son after noticing him strolling alone down a road near his family home. They dropped him off, and she assumed that was the end of it until cops came hours later to arrest her on suspicion of reckless behavior.
“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 secured $500 bond and was offered a dismissal of the charge provided she signed a paper outlining a safety plan that guaranteed her children would always be kept under surveillance.
Patterson declined to sign the document and is disputing the charge.
“This is not right, I did nothing wrong,” she said. “I’m going to fight for that.”
If Patterson loses, she could face up to a year in prison.