The woman accused
of leaving a toddler in a hot day-care van last summer will be allowed to bond out of jail if the Department of Children and Families approves.
A woman accused of leaving a toddler in a hot day-care van last summer will be allowed to bond out of jail if the Department of Children and Families approves, a judge ruled Thursday.
Deborah St. Charles, 52, is charged with aggravated manslaughter in the death of 3-year-old Myles Hill, who was found in a Little Miracles Academy van St. Charles had driven Aug. 7.
The boy was in the van for about 12 hours and died of heat exposure.
Myles’ family has filed a civil suit against the day care, its owner and St. Charles. Judge John Jordan reduced her bond from $30,000 to $2,500.
A family friend who has taken in St. Charles’ 14-year-old son said she agreed to house St. Charles, who lost her home after she was arrested, defense attorney Jeffrey Deen said.
“Ms. St. Charles has never been in trouble,” he said. “… She’s not a danger to anybody. She’s not a threat to anybody.”
The prosecutor, Assistant State Attorney James Altman, said he agreed to reduce the bond as long as it was “some amount that would still provide an incentive for her to appear.” St. Charles likely faces 13 to 30 years in prison if convicted, he said.
St. Charles’ conditions of release would require her not to have contact with anyone younger than 18, the judge said. That includes her teenage son, though Jordan said he would be willing to modify that condition if DCF investigators allow it.
St. Charles will not be released from the Orange County Jail until DCF conducts a home visit, which had not been scheduled at the time of Thursday morning’s hearing.
St. Charles has two sons, Deen said: the 14-year-old and an older son who will go back to college soon.