Mom found guilty of abuse for letting 5-year-old walk outside alone speaks out

September 7, 2026 / 9:40 PM EDT / CBS News

A Virginia mother is speaking out after her conviction on a child abuse charge stemming from her decision to let her 5-year-old son walk outside alone.

Karyann Parkinson's son, Samuel, likes to collect goose feathers. So, over the summer, she let him walk half a mile to a local pond by himself to get more.

"I gave him permission to go," Parkinson told CBS News. "I told him, 'Go there. Come right back.'"

Ford's Colony, the gated community where they live in Williamsburg, has paid security guards, one of whom stopped Samuel on his way to the pond and escorted him back home.

"The security guard said, 'Well, we don't permit children to be out in the neighborhood alone.' And I said, 'Is that in an HOA [homeowners association] bylaw? Because I really don't think that's against the rules,'" Parkinson recalled saying. "And he said, 'Well, if it's not against the rules, then it's against the law. And I'm gonna call the police.'"

The police and Child Protective Services responded the day of the incident, and Parkinson was charged two weeks later with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/