Mom Found Guilty of Abuse for Letting 5-Year-Old Walk Outside Alone Speaks Out

A mother in Williamsburg, Virginia, is speaking out after a court found her guilty of child abuse. Her crime? She let her 5-year-old son walk half a mile to a nearby pond by himself. Karyann Parkinson says she made a careful choice as a parent, but the law saw it differently. Now she is fighting the conviction and hopes to get it overturned on appeal.

Parkinson's son, Samuel, loves collecting goose feathers. Over the summer, she gave him permission to walk alone to a local pond to find more. 'I told him, Go there. Come right back,' she told CBS News. She felt the short trip was safe and that Samuel was ready to handle it on his own.

The family lives in Ford's Colony, a gated community with paid security guards. One of those guards spotted Samuel walking alone and brought him back home. The guard told Parkinson that children were not allowed to be outside by themselves. She pushed back, asking whether that rule was actually written in the community's homeowners association guidelines.

When the guard said it might be against the law, he called the police. Both police officers and Child Protective Services came to the home that same day. Two weeks later, Parkinson was formally charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She thought the case would be dropped before it ever reached a judge.

Instead, she was convicted and given a six-month suspended sentence, meaning she does not have to go to jail as long as she follows certain conditions. She was also placed on Virginia's child abuse and neglect registry for seven years. Because of that listing, she cannot volunteer in her son's classroom until he reaches sixth grade. The conviction has had real effects on her everyday life as a parent.

Virginia is one of 13 states that have a 'reasonable childhood independence' law. That law is meant to protect parents from being punished for allowing their kids to do age-appropriate things on their own. Parkinson believes that law should have protected her. She plans to appeal the conviction, with a ruling expected in January.

The case has sparked a wide debate online about how much freedom parents should give young children. Parkinson said she has received many messages from other mothers who went through something similar. She believes that when a child appears confident and capable, adults should not interfere. 'We don't interfere with children if they seem to be doing just fine,' she said.