LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WJAC) — State police say a 1-year-old child is safe after her mother left her alone and naked in the woods in Lancaster County Monday night.
Troopers say they found the 17-month-old girl in the woods behind a trailer park in Providence Township just after midnight. They believe the girl had been there for about three hours.
Police charged the child's mother, 33-year-old Angela Benedict, with child endangerment.
Neighbors tell NBC affiliate WGAL they saw Benedict fling the child over her shoulder and take her into the woods. Hours later, they say Benedict returned to her trailer on the edge of the woods, without the child.
Troopers say they found the girl sitting in shallow water, wearing only socks. They say she had bug bites but was not seriously hurt.
Neighbors tell WGAL Benedict was on drugs and incoherent.
Troopers say the girl was taken to Lancaster General Hospital as a precaution and will later be placed in her father's custody.
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