VALPARAISO | A Liberty Township woman is charged with child neglect after police and prosecutors allege she allowed her two children to rack up a combined 62 unexcused absences and 147 tardies over the past three school years.
According to documents filed last week in Porter Superior Court, Amy Loney, 31, of Liberty Township, is charged with two counts of neglect of a dependent, both Class D felonies.
Police said that in November 2009, while second- and third-graders at Liberty Elementary School, the two children missed a combined 10 days of school and were each late for class 18 times over 61 school days.
The students then were placed in Project ATTEND, a truancy-diversion program that ensures parents are informed of their obligation to make sure their children attend school and assigns a case manager to regularly monitor the child's attendance.
Police said attendance improved until February 2010, when it began sharply declining. Police said Loney failed to respond to numerous requests for meetings to discuss the situation and one child's refusal to do any homework and thinking she didn't need to go to school.
Police allege she later wasn't receptive to the idea of walking her children to the bus stop to ensure they made it to school.
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