CPS and Scioto County Sheriff’s Deputies stepped in after a child was found wandering on a country road after dark. If that sounds familiar, it’s because officers have responded to half a dozen similar incidents in the past week.
A CPS worker contacted the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office just before 7:30 p.m. to say she was with a child who’d been found standing in the middle of Bennett Schoolhouse Road with no adults around. A neighbor found the child but knew the CPS worker lived nearby, so they called her for help.
When officers arrived, the young child said their mom left sometime before dusk to go to Chillicothe. Deputies noted the door was open, and the child told them he’d been out walking around since it got dark.
Deputies checked the home to make sure no one was inside and waited while a CPS supervisor responded to the scene.
Just after 8 p.m., the child’s mother returned to the home. After a brief investigation, CPS decided to remove the child from the home and put a safety plan in place.
Officers took Tonya Shull into custody and booked her into the Scioto County Jail on a charge of endangering children.