Mom charged after abandoning child

Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | 12/19/03 | John Shiffman

[Holly_P]

CAMDEN - After a trip by ambulance to the emergency room Wednesday night, a Somerdale mother left the hospital carrying a prescription to treat her son's high fever and earache. She never filled it, authorities said.

Instead, Sandra A. Roman, 29, took her 4-year-old son to Camden and bought crack cocaine, authorities said today. After getting high, she left her son with a stranger at a Camden bus-rail station, officials said.

The preschooler was discovered by a passerby, still in his stroller inside the station, about 6:15 a.m. yesterday, roughly six hours after his mother had left him, officials said. The boy, who has hazel eyes and close-cropped brown hair, could give authorities only his first name. Authorities were unable to identify him until last night, when his father, Luis Roman, saw his son on the TV news and called.

Sandra Roman was arrested late last night in an area of Camden known for street drug sales and prostitution, near Boyd Street and Baird Boulevard. She was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

"It's horrendous," said Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi. "Words can't describe what would ever bring a mother to the point where she would abandon her child in search of illegal drugs."

Sarubbi said Sandra Roman called for an ambulance Wednesday night about 9 p.m. because her son had a fever and "a severe earache."

The boy was treated at Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Stratford, where the mother received a prescription for the boy, Sarubbi said.

Sandra Roman and her son took the PATCO High-Speed Line from Lindenwold to downtown Camden, where she met a male stranger at the bus-rail station and asked him for help to buy crack, Sarubbi said.

With her child in tow, Roman followed the man, whom authorities declined to identify, to buy drugs nearby, officials said.

There, Roman smoked crack, Sarubbi said.

Afterward, about 12:30 a.m., the three returned to the PATCO station, where the woman left her son with the stranger. He waited for some time - authorities said they didn't know precisely how long - before he, too, abandoned the boy.

"The child was left alone for a substantial amount of time with a 104-degree fever and an ear infection," Sarubbi said.

The child was discovered by a bystander, who took him to a nearby state Division of Youth & Family Services office. State welfare workers sent the boy to Cooper Hospital, where he remained hospitalized.

The father is unlikely to be charged with a crime, Sarubbi said, because he did not know of his son's whereabouts once the boy left the home in the ambulance. Luis Roman could not be reached for comment today.

Because the investigation is continuing, Sarubbi said, he could not yet say whether the unidentified man who allegedly helped Sandra Roman buy drugs would face charges. Sarubbi said she would not be charged with drug offenses because authorities did not have enough physical evidence.

She is being held in the Camden County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000. If released, a condition of bail would prohibit her from contact with her son.

If convicted on the child endangerment charge, Sandra Roman faces up to 10 years in state prison. According to court records, she was arrested in 1998 for drug possession but the case was dismissed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact staff writer John Shiffman at 856-779-3857 or jshiffman@phillynews.com.

[Holly_P]

This 4-year-old was left in a bus-rail station in Camden by his mother.

[cyborg]

What an evil, wicked woman... my mom was coming home late one night and stopped a heroine junkie from selling her seven year old daughter on the street. I'd like to rack to these bitches and let them starve.

[herewego]

too pissed to post....

[skr]

Sounds more like attempted murder to me. I've had a severe earache in my adulthood and the pain is excruciating. That poor little boy--he deserves a much better home and real parents. May God bless him with people who will protect, love and care for him.

[Calpernia]

I think you may remember me mentioning that I did the Rural Track Medicine Tour up and down the east coast for years.

I was surprised to find us in Camden, NJ. I thought Rural meant farm. Camden qualifies as rural because of it's Gross Income.

When a town/area qualifies in this Rural Track status, they receive, not only federal monies; but federal qualified subsidized services.

Nice to know Camden is a federally funded Welfare Town with no incentive to get off of it.

[janetgreen]

That no-good bit** doesn't deserve to ever see that little boy again.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Thank God that child was found safe! Not only is his illness that was untreated alarming, but the cold temperature must have been hard on him. May God protect him and keep him.

[Dallas59]

"It's horrendous," said Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi. "Words can't describe what would ever bring a mother to the point where she would abandon her child in search of illegal drugs."

Uh....last two words...

[matrix2225]

Too mad to even post anything! this is just sick!

[Coleus]

`

[Holly_P]

The picture of that little boy haunts me. I can't look at it any more. This is sad beyond words.

[knak]

poor little guy, he'll be better off without her. She probably stole money for drugs from some poor soul at the hospital.

[cyborg]

I hope he gets a nice family where he will have happy,joy filled Christmas from now on. That pic is a sad sight and makes me want to cry.

[Maigrey]

Oh poor baby!

There's a (censored expletives) who needs to be Darwinized!

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I keep thinking of the distrustful look in his eyes.

Can you imagine the fear he suffered from?

[Coleus]

Camden is a toilet, the State Police can't even lower the crime rate. They built the Thomas Kean Aquarium and ported the USS NJ in order to spur gentrification which undoubtedly failed. Her son is probably a crack baby and will need special Ed. until he's 21 and he too, will probably be on welfare. The Great Society as LBJ called it.