Brooke & Victor Benavente Accused Of Leaving Kids Unattended For 5 Days In Greeley Hotel
GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4) - Two parents face child abuse charges after police say they found five children unattended in a Greeley hotel room. Brooke Benavente, 34, and Victor Benavente, 37, were taken into custody on Monday night.
The Benaventes' oldest child, an adult, called police and said her five younger siblings were left alone in a hotel room for five days. Officers responded to the Clarion Hotel on 8th Street around 10:45 p.m. on Monday.
A 16-year-old told police that her younger siblings, ages 4, 7, 10, and 14, were left in a hotel room and their parents had not come to check on them. Inside the room, officers found fast food boxes and empty bottles of soda, according to an arrest affidavit.
The teen told officers that her mom, Brooke Benavente, took the siblings to pick up their dad, Victor Benavente, from jail the week before. The family stayed at a hotel in Fort Collins before checking into the Clarion in Greeley the next day. One of the siblings told police they were afraid they would get kicked out of the hotel because the parents had not paid to stay past Monday.
As police took the kids to the Greeley police station, they encountered the parents talking to each other in the parking lot. Both parents were arrested and booked in jail on child abuse charges. Victor Benavente was also charged with a retraining order violation against the mother.
