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Cantonment Man Charged With Felony Child Abuse After 2-Year Old Found Alone In Local Street
July 22, 2019
A Cantonment man is facing a child neglect charge after a 2-year old boy was found alone in a Cantonment street Sunday night.
Tyler Ashton Nellums, 25, was charged with felony child neglect without great bodily harm. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $2,500 bond.
About 10:20 p.m. Sunday, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office was responded to Brookhills Drive off Well Line Road, according to dispatch logs. A woman told deputies she was inside her nearby residence when she heard a child screaming and and crying on her neighbor’s front porch. She told deputies that the child was there alone for about 45 minutes with no adult supervision before running and screaming down the roadway, an arrest report says.
The woman picked the child up from the street, called law enforcement and knocked on the door of Nellums’ residence with no answer.
Nellums told the Sheriff’s Office that he was sleeping before the deputy knocked on his door and did not know the child had left the residence. He said the child had exited the unlocked front door of the residence in the past, but this was the first time the child had gone into the roadway, the report states.
According to the arrest report, Nellums said that no steps had been taken to prevent the boy from escaping the residence.
The Department of Children and Families was notified of the incident.
Comments
13 Responses to “Cantonment Man Charged With Felony Child Abuse After 2-Year Old Found Alone In Local Street”
My question is why is Mr. Nellums sleeping when his 2 year old is up? You don’t have the luxury of doing that when you have a toddler.
I found it sad that the neighbor observed the crying little guy on his front porch for 45 minutes without going over to intervene. Why leave a 2 year old kid in this predicament at night? Never stick your nose into a neighbor’s ’ business – but if It involves a 2 year old in trouble – sorry -
Kids do it , especially intelligent and curious toddlers.My grandson did this when he was two. He decided to take the dog for walk. We called the police and a kind lady who found the pug and the toddler called too. Thank goodness the officers were understanding of how precocious some kids are, no charges were filed and nobody was arrested. After that incident not only did we install hook and eye at the top of all doors we put sliding chain locks as well. I think a call to DCFS was more warranted than an arrest. But then it is easier to make money for the county and put more financial strain on working folks than it is to give a hand up.
Best wishes to this family
If you read this article it states that this was not the first time the child had exited the door and went to the porch and it also states that the door was not locked. I too have had a one year old get up at 6 am and unlock the doorknob, the deadbolt and open a patio door. As soon as this happened i made a trip to the hardware store for chain locks for every door and installed them that day as high as I could get them. This man showed no concern that his child went out on the porch alone repeatedly in an area with traffic. Maybe he was high on drugs. If yall look at escambia co jail you will see he was arrested for drug possession less than 30 days ago. One time is a mistake or accident the next time it happens is laziness and an attitude of “dont care”.
My 5 year old and 2 year old grandson were visiting me for two weeks. We went to Walmart and got alarms to put on the doors. You can set them to chime if opened during the day or an alarm sound if set at night. Worth the $15.00 we paid for them. I now use them as a security measure.
Put chain locks on every outside doors. Our boys were the same way.
This is terrible If your going to have kids and take care of them then the main priority should always be the kids safety if you know your too tired to take care of the kids at the moment then get a sitter or family member we live in a world where within seconds of not paying attention can cause a tramadic situation I thank God for the baby being ok but I hope this is an eye opening experience for all parents.
It’s unfortunate this working class father fell asleep and as curious two-year-old decided to go outside. Assuming he was asleep and he’s arrested on felony child abuse while I watched three children with a drug addict mom sit on the side of highway 29 a couple months ago I called the cops twice myself and nothing was done I eventually had to leave the kids alone but yet they arrest him this country amazes me sometimes
Whatever the legal issues you now face are no comparison to the sorrow and regret you would have if that child had been hurt or killed or taken by a predator – there is too much bad in this world – your children’s safety is paramount, you can’t let your guard down, not in these times, not anymore. Let that sink in…
From reading the articles, I didn’t read that Sunny’s grandson locked the door back from the outside. That would be way smarter than a 5th grader. Plus you need to take a key with you. In this case, the toddler would need something tall enough to reach the deadbolt to lock it from the outside.
The deadbolts were installed as a safety measure after the boy was exiting the house. I’m sure they have this under control now.
Mr. Nellums son has started performing things that need attention right away.
I’m thinking most two year old children do not observe and perform acts as these two are doing. They are out there, believe me.
Thank you Sunny for teaching me a lesson about toddlers. I’ll pass this on to friends with small children.
we put some of those simple hook and eyes at the tops of the doors.
Ok so I know children learn how to open doors as they get older and can leave the house. But..when a 2 year old learns to unlock a door, go outside and lock the deadbolt from the outside..then it’s time to change the system. No, this wasn’t in the report but know it’s fact. And for the kids being kept in a concrete room..come to the country legally and that wont be an issue. Not hating on any race, but most people that do the right thing face far less issue.
It’s a shame that this father is experiencing the same thing we are. I have a 2 ½ year old very smart Grandson. He started unlocking exterior doors at 2 years old. No parent realizes this until it happens. My Grandson would be found outside, in the garage, on the back porch – just everywhere. Day and night just as this small boy did at 10PM. Finally my son had to install double cylinder deadbolts on all the exit doors. On the interior doors, they installed plastic knob covers to keep him out of the bathrooms and bedrooms. The kitchen cabinets have been secured with child proof locks. So far he hasn’t figured out how to open the cabinets. A plastic knob cover has been placed on the inside of his bedroom. A person must squeeze this cover to make contact with the knob to open it. Any day now, they expect him to open the doors with the covers on them. Since double cylinder deadbolts take some work to install and cost are high, I suggest the locks that hotels use at the top of their doors. Slide chains or hasps with an unlocked master lock stuck through it. Driveway alarms sold at Harbor Freight (Bunker Hill) are very helpful used indoors and outdoors. That will let you know when a toddler is roaming around the house. I hope Mr. Nellums can get it figured out so the family can rest in peace without an escapee. Sorry Mr. Nellums you are getting ready to go through a series of things with your toddler son. Just be on the lookout as much as you can. It can be difficult to just use the restroom so you need to take him with you.
Sunny for safer parenting.