A Eupora man has been charged with felony child neglect in connection with an incident that occurred last week.
Webster 911 reports show a call was received shortly before 3 a.m. March 18 of a lost child on Roane Avenue. The Webster County Sheriff’s Department stated in a social media post that deputies, while in Eupora, responded to the call, which was in reference to a child walking in the road near Piggly Wiggly. Deputies and a Eupora Police Department officer arrived on scene and found a 4-year-old child in the road, according to the post.
After investigating, Robert Lashawn Wofford, 30, was arrested by deputies and charged with felony child neglect and possession of marijuana, according to the WCSD.
A charging affidavit filed in Webster County Justice Court by Deputy Sheriff Brandon Chaille alleges Wofford feloniously neglected the child “by allowed the autistic child to leave the home on various occasions unsupervised, also allowing the child to defecate on himself while running down MS Highway 182 at 2:30 a.m. under no supervision … on E. Fox Ave.”
The statute under which Wofford was charged is contributing to the neglect or delinquency of a child; felonious abuse and/or battery of a child.
Although a $25,000 bond was set for Wofford, he remains in the county jail under a hold from the Mississippi Department of Corrections. A hearing has been set for April 17 in Justice Court.
