GREENFIELD – A 2-year-old child was found alone in a Greenfield subdivision Monday morning, playing with his toys on the sidewalk.
And when they arrived on scene to answer a call for help from the neighbor who’d found the boy, officers immediately recognized the child: his guardians lived about three minutes away and had already been accused of felony neglect, records state.
Prosecutors filed charges against the Isaac and Carissa Abrahams, 29 and 30, respectively, late last week after neighbors told police a 2-year-old who lives with the couple was regularly found wandering the neighborhood alone, and the boy’s two older sisters were often locked out of the Abrahams’ home after school, sometimes for hours at a time.
A judge issued arrest warrants from both Abrahams late on Oct. 13 for a Level 6 felony count of neglect of a dependent against each of them.
But before police had a chance to pick them up, they got word the couple might have committed the same crime a second time.
Neighbors called 911 Monday morning, saying they were concerned about the well-being of a little boy they’d found playing on the sidewalk, court documents state. The temperature was in the 40s, there was a slight breeze in the air, the boy wasn’t wearing a coat, and there was no adult to be found, the caller told dispatchers.
Recognizing the pattern of events, the Greenfield police department detective who was assigned to investigate the Abrahams’ case radioed her colleagues and instructed them to knock on the Abrahams’ front door to see if the boy was theirs, court documents state.
When Isaac and Carissa Abraham answered, appearing to have just woken up, they confirmed the detective’s suspicions, court documents state. Carissa Abraham told police Monday the 2-year-old often wakes up, gets himself dressed and leaves the house, usually heading to the subdivision’s playground, court documents state.
The couple was immediately arrested, and representatives from the Indiana Department of Child Services removed the three kids from their home and placed them in foster care.
Now, the Abrahams are tied up in a second set of criminal cases; they each face another Level 6 felony count of neglect of a dependent – the same counts that were filed against them last week. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 2.5 years in prison.
The two cases against Isaac Abraham faces are filed in Hancock County Superior Court 2. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faces, and he has been released from the Hancock County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond.
Carissa Abraham’s cases are also filed in Hancock County Superior Court 2. She also pleaded not guilty to all the charges she faces but remained in the Hancock County Jail at press time.