Charges were reduced against two Gwinnett County parents accused of leaving their 2-year-old girl in Norcross' Thrasher Park, but they still could go to prison if convicted of the lesser crimes.
A judge said Shannon Grose and Teresa Menefee could be released on their signatures. Grose was released Thursday but the mother remains in jail because she was also being held on a charge that she violated her probation.
The two were initially charged Saturday with cruelty to children in the first degree, which means the parents "maliciously" caused their daughter "cruel or excessive physical or mental pain." A conviction for cruelty to children in the first degree could mean five to 20 years in prison.
The charges against them now are cruelty to children in the second degree, which means "criminal negligence" is what caused their daughter harm. That crime carries a prison term of one to 10 years.
Police picked up the little girl, named Asia, after two mothers at the park reported the toddler had been waiting a long while for her father to return for her.
Two hours later, police spotted Grose and another man walking around the playground.
“They both confirmed they were looking for Asia,” a police officer wrote in her report. “I asked them how long they had been looking for her. Grose told me they started looking for her approximately 20 minutes ago, which was about 19:35 [7:35 p.m.], which was more than two hours after Asia was first seen … alone in the park.”
The parents said their 7-year-old son was supposed to be watching Asia.
“They both insisted they had been at the park the entire time,” officer Ana Losco wrote in the report. “I then asked them if they noticed that three patrol cars had arrived in the park around 17:50 and were near the playground where they had left 2-year-old Asia. Both couples advised they had seen the police ride around the park several times but had not checked if Asia was OK. They said they had left her in the care of their 7-year-old son Damarius while he played on the playground but had not checked on her for at least two hours since they arrived at the park. When they did begin to look for her after 19:35 p.m., they noticed she was gone. I then asked them why they had not called the police to report she was missing. They did not provide a response to that question.”
The police report of the incident recounts the search for the parents and the confrontational conversation officers had with the father, Grose, once they were located.
Menefee was arrested on an outstanding warrant and was taken to Norcross PD offices in a patrol car; the report said Grose refused to be driven so he walked instead. According to the report, Grose said he was not going to "allow the police to violate his rights."
Once at the station, Grose called the police officer a "liar" and interrupted her with “whatever!” until he started refusing to talk to Losco, loudly accusing the police of “breaking up his family,” according to the report.
Eventually Grose said he would talk with an employee from the Department of Family and Children Services; that was when arrest warrants were secured for the couple.
Asia was taken by a social services worker, the other three children were taken by a relative and Menefee and Grose were taken to jail.
Menefee also was being held on a Gwinnett County arrest warrant issued on a larceny charge.
Grose was no longer listed as being in the jail Thursday night.
Menefee was listed as paying a $11,200 bond for a second-degree cruelty to children charge.
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