HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A man and two women who were responsible for watching a child at a Hollywood hotel were arrested Thursday after police say they left him unattended, without food and suffering from severe rashes on his body.
Hollywood police officers were flagged down by a manager at the Delmar Hotel, located at 315 Arthur St., who reported seeing a young child running around the hotel’s courtyard unsupervised for hours at around 4 p.m. Thursday.
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Police said they found the child sitting underneath a table, wearing only a diaper and had a noticeable rash on his stomach. Temperatures were reportedly around 90 degrees at the time.
Authorities contacted a housekeeper, who informed officers in Spanish that the child had been unsupervised since 10 a.m.
Officers then proceeded to the room where the child was reportedly staying. Inside, they found 62-year-old John Harper and 34-year-old Caridad Marichal asleep. They said attempts to reach the child’s mother were unsuccessful.
Inside the hotel room, officers detected the foul smell of soiled diapers, urine, and expired food scattered throughout the room.
The child, who pointed to a red, irritating rash on his stomach, told police, “It hurts really bad,” according to an arrest report.
He also said he had not eaten all day and did not know the whereabouts of his mother, police said.
When asked who was taking care of him, the child said, “I don’t know. Mommy is not home,” the report stated.
Police said a public records search revealed that Harper had two outstanding warrants out of Broward County.
Before officers left the scene, the child’s mother arrived and explained she had been “flying halfway around the country,” according to investigators.
The reason for her departure was redacted in the publicly released report.
Authorities said the Department of Children and Families will take over the case.
Jail records show Harper, Marichal, and a third suspect, who police identified as 30-year-old Karina Banyionte, are each facing one count of child neglect without great bodily harm.
As of Friday, all three suspects are each being held on a $2,500 bond at the Broward Main Jail.