A 40-year-old Utah woman charged with locking her two young children in the trunk of her car last year while she went inside a Walmart store to shop has been sentenced to probation.
Tori Lee Castillo, of Ogden, was charged in Riverdale Justice Court with two class B misdemeanor counts of reckless child abuse.
On Thursday, Castillo pleaded guilty to one of the counts and the other count was dismissed.
Judge Reuben Renstrom suspended a potential 180-day jail term and ordered Castillo to complete 60 hours of community service as part of a 12-month probation.
Riverdale police say that on May 25, witnesses heard the children, ages 2 and 5, making noise and saw the car shaking, so they got the older child to pull the emergency latch and called 911.
Castillo was arrested when she returned to the car.
Police have said that state child welfare workers turned the children over to a responsible party.
Prosecutor Teral Tree told The Tribune later Thursday that he had asked for additional jail time for Castillo, who served at least a weekend behind bars at the time of the incident.
But the children’s father had conveyed a message to the judge that he did not want more jail for Castillo.
Tree said the children, who spent about 10 minutes locked in the car’s trunk, did not suffer any physical injury.
Castillo is due back in court for a review on March 15.
