A 19-month-old girl of Jasper, Florida, was hospitalized after she was left outside overnight during Hurricane Irma.
The girl’s father, Angelo Mitchell, 36, was charged with child cruelty.
On Sunday, Sept. 10, Mitchell put the child in his car and left home around 11 p.m., the girl’s mother told police. She said she had last seen the two together on the house’s porch.
About two hours later, the father returned without the child, while Irma raged outside. The mother then called the police.
Police looked for the child in the storm, even using a police dog, but to no avail.
At 11:30 a.m. the next day, a neighbor called authorities saying a toddler was found in a yard some 500 yards from her home. The girl was still alive, but had turned purple from spending the night in the cold and wind. She had scratches and insect bites on her body, witnesses said.
The father was arrested and charged with child abuse without great bodily harm. He admitted to having had several drinks while the child was in his care. The officers also said he smelled of alcohol.
He was booked in the Hamilton County Jail on Monday and released on Thursday, online jail records show.
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