Debra Wisler is accused of leading the boy into the woods with packed luggage.
A New Jersey mom has been accused of abandoning her young son, who has special needs, in a wooded area.
Debra Wisler, of Millville City, is accused of leading the 10-year-old boy into the woods near Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst on Aug. 3.
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New Jersey State Police said Wisler abandoned the boy with luggage. He then fell asleep then woke up hungry before a passing motorist saw him wandering and contacted military personnel.
The boy was taken to a visitor’s center, given food and water and then evaluated by military first responders who determined he had minor, non-life-threatening injuries.
Police say the boy told employees of the visitor’s center that his mother walked him into the woods with his luggage and left him there. He was able to provide his mother’s name and phone number to employees, who then contacted Wisler.
Responding State Police detectives assumed custody of the boy and brought him to Bordentown Station. The Division of Child Protection and Permanency was contacted and they were able to locate a temporary home for the boy.
The following day, Wisler spoke with detectives, who said they determined that when Wisler discovered her son was not eligible for a child program at Joint Base McGuire-Dix, she walked him to a nearby wooded area and left him there with only his luggage.
She was arrested at the station and charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Despite the outrageousness of the allegations, the boy's teacher's aide told CBS New York that the child is the center of Wisler's world.
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“She got him involved in everything that she could, and all services are available to him and her. I can’t even talk, I’m just still so shocked,” Barbara Todd said.
Wisler has been released pending a court date and it's unclear whether she has an attorney.
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