Child, 1, Wanders Alone, Mother Arrested: Middletown Police

MIDDLETOWN, CT — A Middletown mother was arrested after her 1-year-old son was found wandering alone in a soiled diaper on South Main Street during rush hour last week, according to police. A pediatric nurse who was on her way to work called police at about 5:40 p.m. on July 11 after finding the child standing right next to the road on South Main Street in the area of Pinewood Terrace. The woman told police that the child was wearing only a diaper and a shirt and the diaper was soiled with urine coming out of the sides, according to the police report.

The woman wrapped a towel around the child and she told police that he rested his head on her shoulder and began to fall asleep. The officer found bruises and scratches on the boy’s arms along with slight bruising on his face and said his fingers on his right hand appeared to have blood on them from small scratches, according to the report. Police went to the nearest residence in the 700 block of South Main Street and located the boy’s mother, who was identified as 31-year-old Tosha Cooley.

Police said that Cooley didn’t know that her child was out of the home and didn’t appear to be aware that an officer was holding her son, who was now sleeping. After being told an officer was holding her son, Cooley didn’t “make an attempt to comfort or nurture the child on her own,” police wrote in the arrest report.

An ambulance responded and as the EMT tried to wake up the boy to be evaluated, he was “barely responding to any sort of touch or voices around him,” according to police. The boy was then taken to the hospital for evaluation.

Cooley’s other son, a 4-year-old who was diagnosed with autism and is non-verbal, was also found to be in a soiled diaper, according to police. The boy was also taken to Connecticut Children's Medical Center for evaluation after police found “very little edible food in the kitchen” and said the conditions of the home and children were “inexcusable, unhealthy and dangerous.” Police said the home had a strong odor of urine and feces, several choking hazards present, three bottles of alcohol that were accessible to the children and other concerns.

Cooley told police that she thought both boys were playing in the sunroom/living room and thought they were both safe and she began to make dinner. She told police she last changed the 1-year-old’s diaper at 5:40 p.m. and that since it was hot, she had the children drinking a lot more water and had been changing the 1-year-old’s diaper every 30 minutes.

Police noted in the report that they didn’t find a “single cup, water bottle or sippy cup that was filled with liquid throughout the home” and they received the call at 5:42 p.m. that the boy was wandering alone outside. Police also said there were “not enough dirty diapers in the home to substantiate that claim.” Police also noted that they responded to the home shortly after 6 p.m. and that she was unaware the boy was out of the home until told by the officer.

Cooley was arrested and charged with two counts of risk of injury to a child. She was released on a $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on July 26.

After Cooley was released, DCF officials requested that both parents and police meet at their residence for an evaluation of the home before they reported to the hospital, according to the police report. Authorities didn’t say if the children remained in Cooley’s custody.