On February 8, 2022, Katelynn Brent and Cory Ahern committed child abuse when they left their toddler son in the car as temperatures dropped below freezing while they went skiing ten times each at Killington Resort. The parents, who both work at the resort, are now facing child cruelty charges in New York.
Good Samaritans spotted a toddler locked in the car and immediately contacted the police department. The officers who arrived on the scene succeeded in rescuing the child from the vehicle as temperatures had reached a low of twenty-eight degrees Fahrenheit outside.
A Good Samaritan tipped off Patrol Officer Michael Hoffman that the parents had abandoned their child in the car while they went skiing for fun. Hoffman then stopped the parents as they were driving along East Mountain Road.
Officer Hoffman halted the car after he started to believe Brent was driving under the influence, so he asked her to take a breathalyzer test. Unfortunately for her, she failed and registered a blood-alcohol level of .101 percent; in Vermont, anything over 0.08 is considered illegal.
The parents confessed to leaving their child locked in a cold car, but said they checked on her regularly while running down the mountain. Nevertheless, because of the negligent parenting, the child was put in harm’s way.
“The child seemed healthy and fine,” Officer Hoffman said.
The police report read, “A continuing investigation revealed Ahern and Brent are both employees of Killington Resort and have ski passes contingent with their employment. With the assistance of Killington Resort management, it was determined both Ahern and Brent access loading lift gates ten times during the day of February 8, 2022.”
The police continued, “Ahern and Brent have both been cooperative and participated in interviews with Killington Police where they both ultimately admitted their involvement in leaving their child alone in their vehicle while skiing. Both Ahern and Brent advised they checked on the child immediately after each ‘run.’”
The police informed both the Vermont Department of Children and Families and the New York State Department of Child Protective Services about the incident. Both parents were charged with child cruelty, and Brent was also hit with a DUI charge.
The couple will appear in court again on February 28, 2022, to answer for their actions against their child.
The Killington Police Department posted about the arrests on Facebook, which led to people expressing anger on social media.
“They should be ashamed of themselves!!!” said Janeen Anne Jarvis-Lunna on Facebook. “Wonder how many times they have put their child in danger. This just happened to be the time they were caught. How many times was this child left in the vehicle while the parents chose to put him in many dangerous situations so they could have fun! Shame on them.”
Do you have any opinion on what these parents did to their toddler?
