A 41-year-old Pasco County mother was arrested Saturday and charged with child neglect after her 3-year-old son was found wandering a New Port Richey neighborhood naked.
According to the New Port Richey Police Department, Kelly Ann Gibbs was arrested and charged with one count of neglect of a child, one count of resisting an officer without violence and a drivers license infraction.
Officials said they received a call just before 1 p.m. about a child being found naked and alone in the Hills Drive and Massachusetts Avenue area of New Port Richey.
New Port Richey police officers and Pasco County deputies canvassed the area to find where the child lived. A short time later, a resident at an apartment complex on Ian Court recognized the child. That led authorities to Gibbs, who lives at the complex. Officers were able to confirm she was the boy's mother.
Officers said Gibbs, whose apartment was dirty and littered with empty alcoholic beverage containers, was not aware her child was missing. After interviewing Gibbs, officers took her into custody.
A Child Protection Investigator (CPI) was called and took the child. The boy will remain under CPI care while the case is investigated.