Grandparents Charged With Child Neglect

GRANDPARENTS ARRESTED ON CHILD NEGLECT CHARGES

During the evening hours of Friday, May 26, 2023, Hendry County Deputies arrested grandparents on charges of Child Neglect.

Hendry County Deputies responded to a third-party call reporting a man that needed medical attention. Hendry County Dispatchers noted that the reporter sounded incoherent. When deputies arrived on scene, they made initial contact with 55-year-old Raquel Divina Pena. Deputies reported that when speaking with Pena she was unable to form a sentence and when asked if she was in need of medical attention, she was unable to answer deputies and EMS personnel and only pointed to the living room area of the home.

Both Deputies and EMS looked inside the home and could see an infant child crying profusely, and in need of care. Deputies and EMS personnel immediately took custody of the child and notified the parent.

It was learned by Deputies that the child’s mother had trusted the care of her infant to Pena and upon being made aware of the current circumstances, she became emotionally distraught of the lack of care that Pena was providing for her baby. Deputies reassured the mother the child was now safe. With permission from the mother, the infant was later turned over to the custody of a trusted family member.

Deputies determined by the admission of both grandparents that they had been drinking heavily. It was obvious from the condition of both adults that they were unable to communicate effectively and were physically unable to move around safely; and neither were able to provide the proper care, supervision and services needed to maintain the infant child’s physical and emotional needs.

Both grandparents, identified as Raquel Divina Pena and Johnny Apparicio Moreno, 53, were both arrested on charges of Child Neglect. Both Pena and Moreno were released on May 27, 2023, on $2,000.00 bond.