In the last two days, 12 children were brought to the Grand Crossing District police station on Chicago’s South Side after having been abandoned by their parents, police and child welfare officials said.
Early Friday afternoon, seven children ranging in age from 1 to 15 were taken to the station by their aunt who told police they had been abandoned by their mother Wednesday. An hour later, the mother, Jacqueline Dean, 30, of the 500 block of East 62nd Street, was arrested and charged with child neglect, said police spokesman Billy Davis.
The case came one day after five children were found wandering the streets, saying they had been abandoned and had no place to stay. Those five were picked up by police and brought to the station.
“It’s very saddening to see that kind of thing happening,” said Martha Allen, spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Family Services.
Allen said the seven children brought to the station Friday are now staying with their aunt.
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Meanwhile, police and child welfare investigators were still searching for the mother of the five children who were brought to the station Thursday. The five were turned over to DCFS.
“Apparently they were staying with someone their mother had left them with. How they came to be on the street is still being investigated,” said Cmdr. Hugh Holton.