ROUND ROCK, Texas – A Texas woman is accused of leaving her five children at home while she took a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to search for a job and go to the beach, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Austin American-Statesman.
The affidavit says one of the children was 15 months old, and the oldest was 12.
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Chrystal Walraven, 28, was charged with two counts of abandoning or endangering a child, which is a second-degree felony that could land her up to 20 years in prison if convicted. A spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services told the Statesman her children were placed in foster care but are now living with relatives.
The incident was originally brought to the attention of police when they received a call from the principal back in August, saying her kids were talking about having to stay up all night to change their babysitter's diaper.
An officer went by the house later that day, and her 10-year-old son answered the door. The officer said they noticed an "overwhelming odor" of feces and garbage coming from the house, but the boy told officers that everything was OK.
In the affidavit, officers say they found a dirty diaper in a closet, stains on the carpet, flies in the kitchen and several knives laying out in the children's reach.
A teacher later called the man listed as one of the children's parents, but he told the teacher that a neighbor was looking after the kids. He told police he moved out of the home several weeks before and was now living in another state.
Officers spoke to a neighbor, who said that a father of one of the kids was taking care of them and checking on them throughout the day.
That man came to the police station a few days later to try and "get his kid back." He told officers that Walraven asked him to watch the kids, but that he told her he wasn't able to do so.
Walraven eventually came to the police station five days later, saying she took a trip to Myrtle Beach because she "needed to get away with everything that was happening at home,” according to the affidavit.