Sheriff: Woman Charged After Leaving Toddler Outside County Courthouse

A 52-year-old mother was charged after she left her two-year-old daughter alone on Friday outside the DuPage County Courthouse in Wheaton, police said.

Sadeya Albiss, of the 8800 block of South Harlem Avenue, Bridgeview, faces one count of endangering the life of a child, a class A Misdemeanor, according to a press release from the DuPage County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies at the courthouse, 505 N. County Farm Road, at about 8:45 a.m. Friday were told there was a young child, later identified as Albiss' daughter, sitting on the curb alone.

"Deputies responded outside to find a 2.5-year-old girl cold, scared and crying near the traffic lane of the parking lot," the release said. "They asked if she was at the courthouse with her parents, she nodded and deputies proceeded to take her into the courthouse to get her out of the cold weather."

As they were heading towards the entrance, a woman came running up from the area of the overflow parking lot located at the DuPage County Fairgrounds, waving a piece of paper.

Albiss did not immediately admit to deputies that she was the child’s mother, the Sheriff's Office said. She told the child to stand by a car so that she could go and retrieve paperwork from her car.

"The woman refused to acknowledge that leaving the child unattended in the parking lot alone, in the cold and snow was a problem," the release said.

Albiss was taken into custody and charged with endangering the life of a child. If convicted, Albiss could be sentenced to less than a year in jail, according to sentencing guidelines in the current state statute.

Albiss was in the DuPage County Jail on Friday after her initial arrest but was released by Sunday morning, according to jail records. The next court date for this case has not been posted.

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