Rosa Marie Pou, 44 of Miami, was arrested yesterday after allegedly abandoning her severely disabled son at the SeaWorld amusement park in Orlando and then laughing about it. Her son has severe mental and developmental disabilities, and police originally thought he was about 8-years-old when they found him alone in a play area for children at the park. The son, according to various reports, is actually 18 or 21 years old.
An off-duty police officer working at the park noticed that the man had been left alone in the "Happy Harbor" area for up to two hours. The man has no communication skills.
Police eventually found Pou in the park about 25 minutes later, and when she arrived at the guest services area she was reportedly laughing over the fact her son had gone missing.
At the time a paramedic was attending to her son because he appeared to have a cold, but Pou refused to let the examination go forward.
She was eventually put under arrest, after trying to evade the officers, and is now being charged with neglect of a disabled adult and resisting an officer without violence. She was transported to an Orange County jail, but has since been released.
[OSent: Deputies: Disabled teen abandoned at SeaWorld, mother arrested]
[WFTV: Cops: Mom Left Disabled Son Alone In SeaWorld]
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