Mother charged after Green Bay officer finds child alone in downtown parking ramp

By Ashley Kaster

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    GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (WLUK) — Two children are safe after a Green Bay police officer found one of them wandering alone in a dark and cold downtown parking ramp.

The police department says Officer Kendal Herwald was on patrol Saturday around midnight, helping look for a driver who ran away during a traffic stop, when he saw a non-verbal 6-year-old boy in the Pine Street parking ramp.

The child was taken back to the police station where investigators were able to track down the boy’s address, which was about five blocks away.

When officers went to the child’s home to speak with his mother, they found a 4-year-old girl inside, alone.

Police were able to locate the mother, 25-year-old Christina Badalamenti, who was at a bar.

She told officers she left the children with a babysitter but when officers interviewed the babysitter, the babysitter said she was never contacted.

Badalamenti was arrested. She has been charged with two counts of child neglect and one count of obstruction.

“This could’ve ended in tragedy. We must recognize our officer’s quick actions on the matter and the work by our crime analysis division to identify non-verbal residents when reported to the Green Bay Police by their family members. This resource has proven to be very useful related to this most recent incident,” Cmdr. Kevin Warych of the Green Bay Police Department said in a news release.

Badalamenti made an initial appearance in court Monday afternoon. A signature bond was set, with a condition of no contact with the children unless approved by social services.

She returns to court Jan. 26 for a preliminary hearing.

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