Georgia mom jailed for letting 10-year-old son walk less than a mile into town on his own

When Patterson couldn’t locate her son, she didn’t think it was a problem because he was probably exploring in the nearby woods or had gone to see his grandmother.

But the boy was in fact taking the journey from the family's rural home into the village of Mineral Bluff, less than a mile away and with a total population of 370 people. When a woman stopped Soren, who has since turned 11, on the side of the road to see if he was lost, the boy said he was fine. But the woman nonetheless contacted police, according to Reason. The incident occurred on October 30.

A female deputy sheriff quickly located the boy and was soon on the phone with Patterson who was still at the doctor’s office. “She asked me if I knew he was downtown and I said, ‘no,’” Patterson recalled, noting that she hadn’t wanted her son to take off without telling her but that she was relieved there was no problem – or so she thought. “I wasn't concerned. I wasn't, you know, panicking or concerned, because it's just a short walk to our house. He knows how to get home, he knows how to get there,” Patterson told ABC News.

But the deputy suggested “anything” might have transpired while Soren was away from home, including being kidnapped or a hit-and-run victim. The officer brought Soren back to the house, where his grandfather was around for oversight. Patterson later came home, talked things over with her son.

The deputy returned at 6:30 with a colleague, put cuffs on Patterson, and transported her to cells, where she was photographed, fingerprinted and dressed in prison clothing, according to a GoFundMe set up for Patterson.

The mother said she couldn’t comprehend what was going on as she had done the same thing as her son had many times when she was growing up in the same area. Nobody ever arrested her mother for letting her walk down the road.

Patterson had to pay a bail bond of $500 to get out of jail and is now charged with a reckless conduct count, which could bring a $1000 fine and one-year imprisonment.

Or the police have offered to drop the charges if she agrees to work with the Division of Family and Children’s Services to create a “safety plan” for her son that would include a GPS tracker on his phone. Patterson is saying no – because she doesn’t believe she did anything wrong, ABC News reported.

In the weeks since her arrest, Patterson has received considerable support from family, friends and the local community, the Daily Mail reported. Her GoFundMe campaign has raised over $54,000 to help with her legal defense.