Parents arrested after police say toddler found alone in Scottsburg motel

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The parents of a 1-year-old girl were arrested at a southern Indiana motel over the weekend after authorities say the toddler was found left alone in a car seat in a motel room.

According to court documents, Austin Bennett and Jessica Bishop, both 23 years old, were arrested on Sunday.

Police say they were called to the Mariann Travel Inn on West McClain Avenue in Scottsburg on Sunday, just after 6:30 p.m., after someone reported that the toddler was left unattended.

A case worker for the Department of Child Services met an officer with the Scottsburg Police Department at the motel, and the officer said he spoke with three other women who had been sitting outside of a motel room for 90 minutes. They said Bennett and Bishop had been staying in the room, and had left their child alone inside on a number of occasions. The women were unsure if the toddler was currently inside.

With the help of hotel management, police opened the door and went inside the motel room. According to court documents, they found the toddler strapped to a car seat on the floor of the room. Police say, "she was not clean, and her diaper was full."

There were no monitoring devices inside the room, and the child was left alone.

Police say they eventually found Bennett and Bishop, the child's parents, in a room on the other side of the motel. When asked where their child was, Bennett allegedly told officers that she was in their room sleeping "because she didn't feel well," adding that she was teething, "and sleeps better when they're not in the room."

Bennett claimed he had checked on the child in the past hour, but when he went back to his room, discovered that the toddler had already been removed by the Department of Child Services.

Both Bennett and Bishop were arrested for Neglect of a Dependent. They are currently being held in the Scott County Detention Center.