PROVIDENCE, R.I (WPRI) — A woman accused of filing false police reports claiming she found a child wandering near a Pawtucket highway faced a judge Thursday after turning herself in to police.
Daniela Peraza Lemus, 22, was released on $1,000 personal recognizance and ordered to stay away from the child, according to Central Falls Police Capt. Craig Viens.
Peraza Lemus originally called police Sunday morning claiming she found a boy who was “laying on his back,” barefoot, and had a pile of diapers on his chest near an off-ramp in Pawtucket while on her way home from Providence.
At the time, Peraza Lemus told police her rideshare driver did not want to wait for the police to be called, so she took the child back to her apartment.
It was later discovered that her story wasn’t true, and she was a friend or acquaintance of the child’s mother. Police said Peraza Lemus was supposed to be watching the boy when the incident occurred.
Pawtucket police said Peraza Lemus was with the child’s mother at an after-hours house party Saturday night and they both decided the child would go with Peraza Lemus to her Central Falls apartment to have a sleepover with her children.
“When Ms. Lemus arrived at her house, at some point, she didn’t want to have the child with her anymore, and she panicked and she concocted this story that she found the child wandering on the side of the road in Pawtucket,” Pawtucket Police Major Shawn Driscoll told 12 News earlier this week.
The boy was taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital for an evaluation, where police said he appeared to be very tired.
Central Falls Police and the R.I. Department of Children, Youth and Families are currently investigating the situation. It is still unclear as to why Peraza Lemus made the report in the first place.
Peraza Lemus was initially arraigned Monday on a charge of filing a false police report out of Pawtucket and released on $5,000 personal recognizance.