Not-So-Great Aunt Left Baby With Stranger: Deputies

SARASOTA, FL — A 48-year-old Bradenton woman faces child neglect charges after Sarasota County Sheriff’s deputies say she left her 2-week-old great niece in the care of a stranger she met at Bee Ridge Park.

According to the sheriff’s office, deputies began looking into a possible case of child abandonment when they were called to the 4430 S. Lockwood Ridge Road park around 10 p.m. Aug. 29. When they arrived, they learned from the woman caring for the baby the child had been left behind by two women. One of the women was later identified as Stephanie Fetner, the aunt of the newborn’s mother, an arrest report said. The other woman was the baby’s mother, Courtney Thompkins, 34, the report added.

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Fetner, investigators later learned, had been appointed as the baby’s caregiver by Manatee County Protective Services.

Detectives say Fetner met the woman she left the baby with at the park a few days earlier. At that time, the woman agreed to watch the infant so that Fetner could play softball, a media release from the sheriff’s office said. “On Tuesday, the woman again agreed to watch the infant and take her home for the evening in fear that the women were too intoxicated to care for the child. Fetner gave the newborn child to the woman and left the park without gathering any contact information,” the agency wrote.

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Concerned about the situation, the woman caring for the baby contacted authorities.

Manatee County authorities were called in to assist in the investigation.

“Due to her visible intoxication, Fetner was transported to the sheriff’s office by the Bradenton Police Department,” Sarasota County reported on Friday. “Through investigation, detectives confirmed that Fetner is the infant’s primary caregiver and knowingly left the infant in the care of a stranger, while intoxicated. Fetner was arrested and charged with a single count of child neglect.”

Detectives also tried to interview Thompkins, but were unable to obtain a statement “due to her intoxicated state,” the arrest report noted. She was taken to a local hospital, the report added.

Fetner remained in custody on Friday in lieu of $20,000 bond.

Manatee County Child Protective Services took custody of the baby, the sheriff's office said. Further information is not yet available.

Booking photo courtesy of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office