New Iberia Infant Found Walking Alone On Highway
June 28, 2012 3:05 PM 
(KPEL) — A father and grandmother have been booked and released after police say a 2-year-old infant was found walking by himself along Highway 14 in New Iberia.
Capt. Ryan Turner, an Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, says a witness found the child and went door-to-door in an attempt to find the baby’s parents. When that attempt failed, she called the sheriff’s office, Turner says.
Deputies also started a door-to-door effort to find the child’s parents, but their attempt also failed.
“The infant was then brought to the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office where it appeared to deputies the child had been unaccompanied for a while,” Turner says. “The child was very thirsty and had not had his diaper changed for some time.”
Detectives called the Department of Children and Family Services, and at about 3 p.m., the child’s father and grandmother were located. 29 year-old Jonathan Penley and 67-year-old Della Bearb were both arrested on charges of child desertion, and they were both released on a summons.
The child is still in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services, Turner says.
Leave a Comment