Gainesville Police arrested a man Sunday accused of leaving three children unsupervised and alone for multiple days.
Zephaniah Freeney, 44, was charged with three counts of child neglect.
Freeney allegedly left three children alone and unsupervised in a home since June 4, according to the report. He did bring canned foods to the house on that day but left after.
The victims did not know where Freeney went and did not have a contact number for him, according to the report. They said Freeney came to the house for a while Friday and left them unsupervised again.
There was little to no fresh food in the refrigerator and some canned and boxed foods on the counter that one of the victims had been making, according to the report.
The victims were told to leave the doors of the house unlocked so Freeney could enter as he needed, according to the report. Law enforcement officers found the doors were not capable of locking, leaving the juveniles vulnerable.
While the children were left unsupervised, one of them thought the power was turned off again so they rolled a napkin, dipped it in candle wax and tried to light it, according to the report.
The victims have three older brothers who are living with a cousin’s ex-girlfriend because they did not want to live in the conditions of Freeney’s home, according to the report.
The victims and a witness said Freeney had allegedly left the victims alone before for a month, according to the report. During that month, the witness said she let the victims stay with her for the last three weeks.
After being read the Miranda Rights, Freeney denied all allegations and said he goes home to the victims every day, according to the report.
Freeney remained in Alachua County Jail on Sunday and Monday in lieu of a $90,000 bail.
Follow Devoun Cetoute on Twitter @devoun_cetoute and contact him dcetoute@alligator.org.
