Tiffany Barnes (L) and Thomas Harris (R)
(Credit: Wise County Sheriff’s Office)

DECATUR (CBSDFW.COM) – Two Decatur children are in foster care after their parents were accused of leaving an 18-month-old boy locked inside a house by himself for eight hours.

On Saturday, the Wise County Sheriff’s Office received an anonymous call concerning the toddler being left at the residence unattended several hours at a time. When officers arrived to the 1300 block of CR 4797, they observed the child inside the residence in a crib. Deputies gained access to the home through a window.

(Credit: Wise County Sheriff’s Office)

Upon entering the residence, they found the child locked inside a room with an electric space heater nearby. The space heater was found to be running, leaving the room “extremely hot.”

The young child was taken to Wise Regional Health Systems for evaluation and later turned over to Dallas Child Protective Services, along with a 5-year-old sibling.

Around 7:30 p.m., Tiffany Barnes and Thomas Harris contacted the Sheriff’s Office concerning their “missing child”. The parents told deputies that they had left their home for a doctor’s appointment, along with their 5-year-old child. They chose to leave the toddler at home because “he was sleeping and we did not want to wake him up.”

The parents were arrested on second degree felonies for Abandon Endanger Child Imminent Danger Bodily Injury. The bond has been set at $10,000 for each adult.

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