A South Carolina couple abandoned their two-year-old child to travel to New York earlier this month. After an investigation by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, police charged Donald Gekonge and Darline Aldrich with suspicion of unlawful conduct toward a child.
Deputies were notified of the child being home alone on November 17th. Investigators contacted Gekonge, who said he was in New York.
Unable to confirm that the child was being cared for in his absence, the police conducted an emergency welfare check. They located the toddler sleeping in a bed inside the home with a soiled diaper.
At first, he told investigators that Aldrich was watching the child before confessing the child’s mother was with him in New York. Both parents were placed in jail on bonds of $50,000 and $75,000, respectively, according to local news stations WCIV and WCBD.