An angry mum has revealed she was visited by police and social workers after a neighbour reported her for letting her six-year-old son play outside.
Children's book author Kari Anne Roy, who lives in Austin, Texas, wrote on her blog HaikuMama that the neighbour rang her doorbell and told her she was returning her son, Isaac, after she found him sitting alone on a bench about 150 yards from his home.
Kari Anne wrote: "Then the woman smiled condescendingly, explained that he was OUTSIDE. And he was ALONE. And she was RETURNING HIM SAFELY. To stay INSIDE. With an ADULT.
"I thanked her for her concern, quickly shut the door and tried to figure out what just happened."
A little later, Anne was visited by a policewoman who said she was following up a complaint made by the neighbour.
The police woman quizzed Kari Anne about her three children and asked if her son had been missing.
A week later she received a visit from Child Protective Services who also wanted to question her and her children.
Kari Anne wrote: "My eight-year-old was very concerned about the questions that were asked, like had she seen people's private parts or those types of movies, and those are things she had not really thought of or known existed."
She took to her blog to express her anger saying she was 'struck dumb' by the fact anyone would question her parenting.
She told local news: "I was humiliated and really angry after that. Really, really angry."
She also defended her decision to let her son out on his own and said the bench was visible from her front porch.
She said Isaac had been playing with his eight-year-old sister until a couple of minutes before the busybody arrived.
Kari Anne said: "Having CPS have to come to a house because a child was playing outside takes away their time and resources from investigating the kids that really need it."
The incident happened last month and Kari Anne only felt it was safe to blog about the experience after she was informed last week that the case was officially closed.
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