Chrystal Walraven, Round Rock, Texas mother booked on child endangerment after leaving her five young children home alone while going on a four day beach vacation.
A Texas mother is facing the potential of 20 years behind bars after allegedly leaving her five young children at home alone while she went on vacation- ‘because she needed to get away with everything that was happening at home’ according to reports.
Chrystal Walraven, 28, of Round Rock– is accused of leaving her eldest, a 12-year-old boy with a child as young as 15 months – who authorities say appeared dead in her crib with a blanket over her mouth – when they entered the family home that had an ‘overwhelming odor’ of feces and garbage.
They learned she was alive when an officer removed the blanket and rubbed her, prompting her to take a visible breath and move.
When law enforcement discovered the youngsters in the house on the 2700 block of High Point Drive on August 29, 2018, a 10-year-old boy answered the door, claiming everything was okay.
Walraven’s two daughters, aged six and three, who had not bathed in days, were also in the home where police found a dirty diaper in a closet, stains on the carpet and flies in the kitchen.
An affidavit released Tuesday also noted the youngsters had access to knives while their mother stayed with a male friend in Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.
Chrystal Walraven Round Rock Texas mom: ‘So who exactly is looking after my kids?’
Cops were alerted by the principal at Gattis Elementary School after the siblings had spoken about staying up late to change their sister’s diaper.
When a teacher contacted a man listed as a father to at least one of the children, the man claimed a neighbor was taking care of them while the mother was out of state.
He told law enforcement he’d moved out of the property weeks before and no longer lived in Texas.
However the neighbor – who made the children dinner the night before and insisted she ‘never knew exactly what was going on with the children’, told police a second father was looking after them and would check in on the brood.
She claimed she never noticed the awful odors coming from the home.
Neighbors also told Fox 7 they assumed the mother was at work and didn’t notice anything unusual because the children often played outside until midnight. The neighborhood residents said the youngsters appeared excited when Child Protective Services arrived.
Authorities said the second man told them he declined to look after all five of the children but regardless, Walraven left them alone on August 25.
During a visit to the police station to get ‘his child’ he reported he’d brought the children food in an 11am-1pm visit the day Walraven left and for a few hours the following two days.
Walraven was due to return August 28 but didn’t make it back until August 30. She claimed her flight was delayed several times and she kept in touch with the kids via Facebook Messenger.
In an August 30 interview with cops, the mother admitted visiting tourist locations at Myrtle Beach along with ‘exploring’ a job opportunity.
The woman was due to depart on her trip a day earlier than she left for four days but ended up returning to her home because her outbound flight was delayed.
She told law enforcement her husband had left their home weeks ago to return to Arkansas.
Chrystal Walraven children different fathers:
A regard of Walraven’s Facebook profile shows her relationship status as ‘separated’.
Images on the social media account suggest she was romantically involved with Jeff Walraven at least until May 2018. His Facebook account indicates he began a relationship with new woman the same month Chrystal went away.
Despite the mother being questioned by authorities last year, a warrant for her arrest wasn’t put out until last month because police ‘needed to conduct a thorough investigation to make sure we had enough evidence’.
She turned herself in February 11 and was bonded out of jail the same day.
Walraven has since blamed her neighbor and one of the fathers.
‘He was supposed to be over here with the kids and he even told him that he was here the night before, um, you know, and that he got them food and everything,’ the mother told via KXAN.
‘Mary was here during the day, she actually had to give them the car seats because she had been taking the kids back and forth to school, like everything. So no, definitely didn’t abandon them. They were supposed to be here with the children and did not do that.’
The children were initially placed in foster care but now stay with the father of one of the children, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services said.
Walraven is charged with two counts of abandoning or endangering a child, a second-degree felony.
The Texas mother could spend anywhere from two years to two decades behind bars if convicted.
