OCALA, Fla. — Investigators say a woman is behind bars after a toddler in her care was found naked and alone with a bloody nose on an Ocala road.
A US Postal Service worker found the child unsupervised in the roadway around 11:15 a.m. on Aug. 10 and called police, the Ocala Police Department wrote in a post. Two nearby witnesses gave the child a t-shirt to wear.
Police said the toddler had several scratches, a bruise near their right eye, a bloody nose and was covered in sand. First responders transported the child to the hospital for treatment.
Responding officers found a nearby home with two doors left open as well as dirty diapers, car seats and a baby stroller outside. They suspected this to be the home where the child lived.
After knocking several times with no response, officers say they entered the home and found the toddler's parents, along with an infant, asleep. The parents reportedly told them that the toddler was being watched by 33-year-old Qualinda Robinson, who also lives at the home.
Robinson, however, was not there, according to police.
Officers say they called Robinson who returned to the home and told them she had texted the child's mother to tell her she was leaving the house to go to the store.
But, investigators say Robinson never confirmed that the toddler's mother received her message and left the home anyway.
"The parents were asleep in another bedroom with the assumption the arrestee was still supervising the child," the department wrote. "When Ms. Robinson left, the toddler was last under her supervision and she failed to verify that the child would be taken care of."
Investigators say they believe the child was unsupervised for about 30 minutes and the cuts and bruises were a result of the child falling from the front porch.
Robinson was arrested and charged with child neglect without great bodily harm. She was taken to the Marion County Jail but has since posted bond, according to online jail records.
The Florida Department of Children and Families also responded to the home.
Following interviews with DCF and Kimberly's Center for Child Protection, a local child advocacy group, the toddler was released back to the parents, police wrote in an update. DCF plans to conduct a home visit.