A woman is accused of leaving seven children, ages 2 to 4, in a hot car outside a Maryland shopping center last week, authorities said.
According to the Charles County Sheriff's Office, one of the children called 911 from the car shortly after 1 p.m. Friday.
The boy told dispatchers that "he and six other children were inside a car unattended and hot," the Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
Using "GPS and other mechanisms," the dispatcher determined that the car was parked at the St. Charles Towne Center shopping center in Waldorf, authorities said.
Deputies arrived to find the children inside the unlocked car with the windows up and the engine turned off, WJLA-TV reported. Only one car seat was in the vehicle, authorities said.
The car's driver, the 37-year-old mother of two of the children, returned to the vehicle about 10 minutes after authorities found and treated the kids, the Sheriff's Office said. Deputies said she had been gone for at least 20 minutes.
Authorities charged the woman, whose name was not released, with confinement of children inside a motor vehicle. She could face more charges, as well, the Sheriff's Office said.
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