OREM — An Orem woman faces a felony charge after police say did not feed her children and was unable to take care of them for a day and a half because she was intoxicated.
Sarah Janine Oliver, 32, was charged Monday in 2nd District Court with child abandonment, a third-degree felony.
On Nov. 24, Orem police were called to Oliver’s home on a report that “two children had been left alone and hadn’t eaten for 36 hours,” according to charging documents. Oliver’s two daughters are 8 years old and 5 years old, according to police.
When officers arrived at the home, Oliver was there but she was “extremely intoxicated,” the charges state.
Even though she was in the house the entire time, she “had not fed nor cared for her children for over 36 hours because of her intoxication. The children were hungry and scared,” according to the charges.
Police said they were notified of the situation after the 8-year-old girl went to the home of a neighbor, who then helped her call her father.
The Division of Child and Family Services was notified of the situation. Police said Tuesday that the children are with their father.