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Newport News parents charged with child neglect after leaving young children home alone

Posted at 2:09 PM, Jul 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-12 14:09:39-04

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Newport News Police Department arrested two people early Thursday morning after they found two young children home alone in the 200 block of Susan Constant Drive.

According to police, officers responded to the home at approximately 4:55 a.m. When the officers arrived, they found the home’s door open, and met a 4-year-old boy at the front of the residence. They could hear another child, a 1-year-old girl, crying inside.

At 5:44 a.m., the officers saw the children’s parents, later identified as 42-year-old Barbara Jean Hardy and 43-year-old Leondre Damont Swinton Sr., walking back to the home.

Both were arrested and charged with two counts each of child abuse/neglect. They are currently in custody at the Newport News City Jail.