An Indiana woman is facing child endangerment charges after allegedly admitting to putting a toddler inside a suitcase on a bus ride in order to warm the child up. Seriously.
According to FOX 59 News and other local Hoosier State outlets, a 29-year-old woman named Ashley Gibson (pictured above, in her mugshot) was arrested last month in the city of Bloomington, Indiana. Per multiple local outlets citing court documents and a police report that were both first revealed late last week, Gibson boarded a Bloomington Transit city bus on December 12 with a suitcase in her hands.
All normal, right? People carry suitcases around all the time. Well… this time, something completely unexpected happened.
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According to police docs, as soon as the bus started moving after Gibson got on at her stop, she allegedly stated out loud that she’d stuff her 2-year-old son inside the suitcase!! Per media reports, it’s unclear whether the driver heard the statement, or a passenger heard it and reported it to the driver. But regardless, the claim prompted the driver to hit the brakes and notify law enforcement about what had allegedly just come out of Gibson’s mouth.
With cops on their way, surveillance camera footage taken from inside the bus reportedly showed Gibson unzip the suitcase and retrieve the child from inside… eventually. Per FOX 59 and others, the child appears to have been inside the suitcase for about 18 minutes (!) after she boarded the bus and before she let him out. Who knows how long he might have been in there prior to that on the street, too!!
When officers showed up, the woman allegedly admitted to the act and told them she’d put the boy in the suitcase “to keep him warm.” Per court docs, responding officers observed that the child was well-dressed in appropriately warm clothes considering the winter weather — so they had no clue why Gibson made that move to begin with.
Then, Gibson threw the cops another curveball when she allegedly told them that her caseworker had approved of her putting the child in the suitcase.
Huh?!?!
Consider us skeptical on that claim, but we digress.
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Anyways, Gibson was arrested over the incident. She was eventually charged with both child neglect causing endangerment, and criminal recklessness. She subsequently pleaded not guilty to those charges. According to Indiana state online court records, she’ll go to trial sometime later this year.
As of now, the extent of the child’s injuries from being trapped in the suitcase — if any at all — is unclear.
Still, that is NOT an acceptable thing for any parent to do. Ever. And the fact that we even have to say that…
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
[Image via Monroe County Correctional Center]