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Update: Newport News mom charged after leaving four kids home alone

Posted at 7:18 AM, Aug 08, 2012
and last updated 2012-08-08 07:19:48-04

Newport News police have charged a woman accused of leaving her four children home alone.

Neighbors say there has to be a mistake.

Four children, all under the age of seven - left home alone.

The youngest was just six months old.

Police say their mother, 24-year-old Shante Payne, left them on their own inside her apartment.

Newport News police were called to the home on Garden Drive after a neighbor walking by heard a child crying through an open door.

Officers say Payne came back 20 minutes later and told them she had only been gone a few minutes. A neighbor tells NewsChannel 3 she thinks this is all a big misunderstanding.

Police charged Payne with three counts of child neglect, and one count of contributing to the deliquency of a minor.

The children were not hurt, and are being cared for by relatives.

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