A 32-year-old woman who neglected her minor children for alcohol escaped jail by a whisker when a Molepolole Magistrates’ Court gave her a suspended sentence this week.
The accused, Kebabonye Lesomo, pleaded guilty to the charge after leaving alone her two minor children aged two years and eleven months respectively in January 2023.
According to the facts of the case, on the 29th December 2022 the youngest child was ill and the accused mother took him to Scottish Livingstone Hospital where he was admitted until the afternoon of 1st January 2023.
On the 2nd January 2023 in the afternoon, Lesomo disappeared from home leaving the two minor children alone without any care.
When Lesomo’s aunt, Boago Lesomo later arrived home she found the children and she reported the matter to Molepolole police where a case of neglect of children was opened.
During mitigation Lesomo pleaded with the court not to sentence her to jail claiming she left her children at 2pm and returned home the same day at 4pm, also that she was not surviving well at home.
She admitted that she had no lawful excuse to leave the children alone and confidently confessed to the court and that although she stays in Mogogoru ward, she was later arrested in Mokgalong ward while she was drunk.
“I wish to inform the court that I’m not surviving well at home. The person who went to report me at the police station is harassing me. I survive by temporary job for Ipelegeng Programme. I have four kids that I’m taking care of and no one can care for them if I’m sentenced to prison,” remorsefully explained Lesomo.
In passing sentence, Principal Magistrate Solomon Setshedi considered that the accused was a first offender even though the most aggravating factor in her case was that she left kids for alcohol.
“Accused is sentenced to three months imprisonment wholly suspended for two years on condition that she does not commit any offence,” concluded Principal Magistrate Setshedi.