A Mother from Michigan was jailed this month after her young child missed over two dozen days of school without any valid excuse, prosecutors said. On November 16th 27 year old Brittany Ann Horton was order to spend five days behind bars and be placed on probation for nine months, by a Muskegon County judge. The mother pleaded guilty to truancy back in May.
Muskegon County’s under sheriff, Kenneth Sanford, confirmed to ABC News that Horton served those days in prison. According to sources, The school sent multiple letters home to Horton beginning in October 2017 and scheduled a parent meeting regarding her 6-year-old daughter’s unexcused absences. Horton never showed. On Jan. 22, the school referred the case to prosecutors.
In February, the Muskegon County Prosecutor’s Office followed up with Horton, attempting to resolve the attendance issues without court involvement by sending a letter and scheduling a meeting. According to them the mother never replied or showed up, prosecutors said.
“Our office does not file charges against parents who are genuinely trying to resolve the issues. The vast majority of chronic truancy cases never end up in court,” Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson said in a statement obtained by ABC News Thursday. “However, when parents like Ms. Horton refuse to make reasonable efforts to address the truancy problem, our office is committed to making sure the children of our community are not deprived of an education.”
“Our office is committed to doing anything possible to help parents resolve truancy problems. Filing charges is always a last resort after all other attempts to help a parent have been rejected,” Hilson said. “Had Ms. Horton met with us, the school or service providers, she would have been provided any services needed to address any possible issues.”
ABC News has reached out to Ms. Horton for her response, but there has been no reply.
sourcehttps://www.yahoo.com/gma/mom-jailed-child-misses-26-days-school-210903258–abc-news-topstories.html
