Murfreesboro Diamond

Local woman charged with endangering the welfare of a minor September 10, 2008 - No reporter cited

By Heather Grabin
Editor

Nineteen-year-old Cynthia Gilbert of Amity was arrested September 3 on a charge of endangering the welfare of a minor.

According to a narrative prepared by Pike County Deputy David Shelby, the sheriff’s office received a call from a citizen stating that she had found a small, naked child in her front yard.

As Shelby was driving to the residence, he saw several people standing in the road. He stopped to see what was wrong and Gilbert told him that she had lost her child. Shelby told her that he knew where her child was and to remain at the residence.

While Shelby was gathering written statements from the citizens who had found the child, Gilbert pulled into the driveway of the residence. Gilbert told Shelby that she had two more children; one was at her residence and one was in Norman. Shelby told Gilbert to bring her other child and meet him at the Pike County Sheriff’s Office.

Shelby had dispatched a call to have Regina Dowdle, caseworker for the Department of Human Services to meet him at the Sheriff’s Office. While talking to Dowdle about the situation, they noticed a spot on the child’s leg that appeared to be staph.

Gilbert arrived and told Shelby and Dowdle that she had gone to the store and left the child asleep on the couch with a friend; when she returned the child was missing and she began to look for it.

According to the narrative, she said that she had been kicked out of her home and had no job or vehicle. She also stated that she had not taken the child to the doctor and that another one of her children had staph also.

The children were place in DHS custody and taken to Pike County Memorial Hospital for evaluation.

Gilbert was given a court date of September 16.

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