By ANDREA POTEET
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE — A man was sentenced to one year of probation and $550 in fines Thursday in Wyandotte’s 27th District Court after a toddler in his care was found naked in the street. Dec. 11.
David Tolley, 26, pleaded no contest to contributing to the deliquency of a minor Dec. 20 after being arraigned on the charges Dec. 13 in the court.
Tolley was arrested after his 2-year-old niece, whom he was babysitting, was found by a motorist running naked in the street near Lincoln and Baumey Tuesday.
According to the report, about 1 p.m. that day a woman driving in the area found the girl on Lincoln naked except for wet socks and “frolicking with a small dog.” The temperature was about 35 degrees. She took the child and the dog into her car, wrapped her in a towel and called police.
When officers responded, they said the girl was shivering and could not answer questions about her name or where she lived. She was transported to Wyandotte Henry Ford Hospital, where she was treated and discharged. Hospital staff said she showed no signs of abuse, apart from light bruises typical to a toddler, but it appeared as though she had soiled her diaper and removed it in the house.
While approaching the car, an officer said he saw a house in the 1100 block of Lincoln with a side door ajar. After talking with the child and the woman who found her, he checked the house and made contact with Tolley, who was in the basement.
He said he was watching her after getting home from work at 5 a.m. that day, and then he had last checked on her at 9 a.m. but thought he heard her in her room about 11 a.m. He said the dog belonged to the household.
The house, where he lived with his sister and niece, appeared to be in disarray and a gallon of milk was sitting on the floor next to a small cup, as if the girl had attempted to get a drink.
Officers instructed Tolley to put together clothing for the child to wear at the hospital. He was then arrested for neglect.
Child Protective Services was contacted and the girl was released to her mother with the provision that better arrangements are made for her care.
The mother told police she is taking the child to stay with her grandparents, who share custody of her.