Case assigned to state attorney, how does the system work?

Question

I made a mistake. I have three children. my three kids and I left home to go to our local store. I needed to buy three gallons of water and a gallon of milk. stupid me, my 1 year old baby was asleep. so I asked my 8 year old to stay in the car and watch over him. next thing you know, there was a fire truck and police. i did not get arrested. the officer got my information. checked my background and I was clear. i do not have criminal history. I know that.. I know what i did was very stupid. no excuse period. what i want to understand is. how does the system work. there is a police report done. I have a case number. I called to follow up and told that my case was not assigned to a detective at that moment. likw what i said. i was not arrested and no charges was charge on me. what will happen next. I am so worried. I have never got in trouble with the law. the officer that was there at the sence told me. that it was a warning....what will happen to my case once it is assigned????

Answer 1

Calm down.  You made a huge mistake, you know that and you're taking responsibility for your mistake.  You are not going to jail or losing the children as long as you have no other issues regarding child endangerment.  The worst that could happen is probation and parenting classes and possibly a couple of visits by DCF.   Hopefully the prosecutor will just give you a stern warning and let it go.

Answer 2

Your case is a public law case and only the Gov't handles those cases. Your case might be sent to child services for investigation. They are not the police department, but they can act as sought of a Govt law enforcement agency to protect children from unfit parents. Then there is the court system. It would be more a case of if your kids need to be under the guardian of the public like foster care, group home etc. If the police do not see your act as a malicious intent, then they don't have to arrest you. If you did it to get your children burned in a fire, then they would have arrested you. Apparently, someone must have called them when they seen a baby and a 8 year old in a car by themselves.