Couple jailed for neglecting children
A Sangre Grande couple was Wednesday jailed for neglecting their four children — ages two, five, eight and 11 years old. Forty-six-year-old Lester Smith and 39-year-old Kathleen Rochford on Wednesday appeared before Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Blake in the Sangre Grande First Magistrates’ Court on charges of failure to register the children, failure to send them to school, and neglect. They were charged by WPC Lisa Felix, who found the couple’s five-year-old wandering through the streets of Sangre Grande. Her investigations led her to the child’s siblings alone in a dilapidated structure. They were taken to the Sangre Grande Police Station, and Smith and Rochford were later detained. They were sentenced to 120 days hard labour for failing to register the children, 130 days for not sending them to school, and six months for child neglect. The couple reportedly told the police that they had drug problems and were accustomed to leaving the children at home alone. The four children were placed in foster care.
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"Couple jailed for neglecting children"