Homeless Mom Made Her Toddlers Sleep In Bushes While She Slept In Hotel Rooms

A homeless mother from Modesto, California allegedly made her two young children sleep in bushes along McHenry Avenue for a full week. She slept in nearby hotels while her kids slept rough.

Police officers were called to a parking lot by neighbors following a report of a baby sleeping in bushes. Modesto police spokeswoman Heather Graves said the mother, Chardenea VanRooyen, was found by police together with her 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.

VanRooyen told officers that her children had slept in that spot with their father for five nights, while she stayed at two different McHenry Avenue motels.

Graves Said: “She said she can’t stay there because she can’t see her children staying in the bushes. When officers asked why she doesn’t take the children with her to the hotel, she just says again she doesn’t want to see her kids sleeping in the bushes.”

Police officers apparently offered to take VanRoyeen and her kids to a nearby homeless shelter, but she refused their offer. The father of the children was never located, but at least the homeless mother didn’t leave her kids alone in the bushes as the father slept with them.

The father of the children was reported to have been sleeping with them in the bushes but when the police arrived he was nowhere to be found.

Graves told reporters that a few blankets were found in the area where the children were sleeping and the kids themselves were dirty, badly dressed and without any food. “They were very excited when officers got them food (from the nearby) Wendy’s,” Graves said.

Chardenea VanRooyen was arrested on suspicion of child abandonment and neglect. Child Protective Services took the children into their custody pending a full investigation of the circumstances which led to the two young children sleeping rough on the street of California for so long.

It remains to be seen what punishment VanRoyeen will receive for her neglect, and whether or not her kids will be returned to her anytime soon.