Police: Mom Abandoned Disabled Son, Traveled to Maryland

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Montgomery County authorities have arrested a Pennsylvania mother who reportedly abandoned her severely disabled son in a park five days ago with only a blanket and a Bible while she traveled to Maryland to visit her boyfriend.

Nyia Parler, 41, is accused of pushing her 21-year-old son in his wheelchair into a wooded section of a Philadelphia park Monday morning and then hopping a bus to Montgomery County, reports NBC Philadephia.

Authorities say the victim was found by a passerby lying in the leaves next to a wheelchair and a Bible on Friday night. The young man is described as severely disabled with cerebral palsy and unable to communicate.

He was treated at a hospital for dehydration, malnutrition and cuts.

Parler was taken into custody at a Silver Spring address. She faces charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment, neglect of a care-dependent person, unlawful restraint, kidnapping and false imprisonment, the TV station says.

“To see that kid laying there, it’s heartbreaking to see that another human, especially a mother, could treat someone like that,” Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker told NBC.

Montgomery County Police will hold a press conference Sunday evening to outline their role in Parler’s arrest.

This is a developing story. Patch will update as details are available.

»Screenshot of scene where victim was found from NBC Philadelphia