Crime & Safety

Woodbury Woman Allegedly Left Kids Home Alone Overnight

Amanda Marie Jansen faces a gross misdemeanor charge of child neglect.

Four children—ages 4, 6, 9 and 10—were left at home alone overnight earlier this month and a Woodbury woman is now charged with child neglect.

Amanda Marie Jansen, 27, faces a gross misdemeanor charge after police were called to the home at 6:49 a.m. on April 15 and found the children by themselves.

She had left the home at about noon the day before to attend a baseball game, and 15 minutes later a man named Jeff came over to babysit, according to the criminal complaint. He left at about 10:30 p.m., the complaint says, and was being questioned by authorities.

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The 9-year-old attempted to call Jansen several times, and she said she would come home soon, according to the complaint.

The child at about 4:50 a.m. on April 15 called her father, who works in another state, and after being unable to contact Jansen, he called Woodbury police and asked them to check on the children.

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Officers arrived and spoke with the children, who were hungry and said they only had small bowls macaroni and cheese the day before, according to the complaint.

The children were fed and given over to the care of others. (The younger three are Jansen’s children; the fourth is a friend who was staying over at the time. That child's parents told police they did not know the kids would be left alone.)

Jansen at 11:30 a.m. contacted police asking after her children, and an officer went to her home, though she didn’t initially answer the door because she was in a bathroom vomiting, the complaint says.

Information about the case was forwarded to Washington County Community Services Child Protection.

If convicted, Jansen faces up to a year in prison and a $3,000 fine.

 

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