She went shopping at the mall.
That's what authorities say an Apollo Beach mother told them when asked why she left her 3-year-old son and her 2-year-old twins - a boy and girl - home alone.
Sarah Bracamontes
At 5:20 p.m. Tuesday, a neighbor reported three small children had been left alone for about two hours in a town home at 6331 Sunset Bay Circle, Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.
When deputies arrived, they found three toddlers locked in separate bedrooms with nothing more than a "sippy cup" provided for food, Carter said.
The children had soiled themselves, she said.
They were not clothed, and the girl was covered with her own waste, according to an arrest report. The walls and carpets of two bedrooms were smeared with feces.
Authorities contacted the owners of the home, who live out of state, and learned that their daughter was the children's mother, Carter said.
At 9:20 p.m., Sarah Louise Mary Bracamontes, 26, returned home and was taken to the sheriff's office on Falkenburg Road for questioning, Carter said. The mother told deputies she had gone shopping at Westfield Brandon mall.
Carter said the woman expressed remorse.
The children were removed from the home by the sheriff's child protective investigations unit, and Bracamontes has been charged with three counts of felony child neglect, Carter said.
Bracamontes posted a $6,000 bail and was released from Orient Road Jail this morning, jail records show.
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