A South Florida dance studio driver is facing a child neglect charge after she allegedly left a 5-year-old girl alone in a van for more than an hour.
Courtney Cristiano, 23, was arrested Tuesday on one count of child neglect without great bodily harm, Margate Police said.
According to an arrest report, Cristiano was working at Danl Dance Studio when the incident happened on Sept. 16. Cristiano was responsible for driving the company's passenger van to area schools to pick up kids for aftercare at Danl.
On the date of the incident, Cristiano picked up the girl, who fell asleep in the van before arriving at the studio. Cristiano didn't check the van and left the girl sleeping inside from about 3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., the report said.
The girl woke up and was able to get out of the van and into the studio. Fire rescue wasn't called and the girl's mother didn't find out about the incident until she arrived at 5:30 p.m., the report said. The mother took the child to Coral Springs Medical Center where she was treated for dehydration.
The mother told investigators that her daughter has been suffering from nightmares and has been wetting the bed since the incident, the report said.
