Mother at risk of losing son who wandered

MIAMI (WSVN) -- A mother who left her 6-year-old child alone overnight appeared before a judge, as his future was being decided.

Thirty-three-year-old Rosa Carolina Recarte Gomez was arrested and charged with one count of child neglect after her son was found walking alone around Southwest 14th Avenue on Thursday morning.

Recarte and her son appeared at the Northwest Miami-Dade courthouse Friday morning where the judge ruled there was probable cause for the boy not to stay with his mother.

The Department of Children and Families said the recommended age to be able to leave your child home alone is 12, and this child was only 6 years old.

Recarte said she had made a big mistake. "Thank God that my son is all right," she said, speaking through a translator. "These things happen as they sometimes have to happen so, one can mature in life."

The mother does not have a record with DCF.

The court will be deciding between two family members for the child to stay with after emergency home studies are conducted. One option is the father of the boy, who has not seen his son in over a year.

The court will decide which family member will have custody of the child at the next hearing on Dec. 10.

(Copyright 2012 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)