Mom hides child in closet while she goes 'to a store far away'

A Delaware County woman is facing trouble with the law for child endangerment. According to authorities she told her 6-year-old child to hide in a closet while she took a trip to New York City.

PHILADELPHIA, PA (Catholic Online) - It was concerned neighbors who alerted police last week to investigate the well-being of a child. Police responded to find a 6-year-old girl at home, alone. The conditions inside the apartment were described as "deplorable."

Court papers say a mattress and heating unit for the child were on the living room floor.

The child told police her mother instructed her to hide in a closet if anybody came to the door.

She told the child that she was going "to a store far away."

Police eventually reached the mother, Shawn Kersey, 35, by phone. At that time, she told police she was on a bus and still an hour-and-a-half away.

Police arrested her on arrival and charged her with endangering the welfare of a child.

The mother has been released on bail.

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