A Georgia mother of four, arrested in front of her children for letting her 10-year-old son walk home alone last month, is not backing down. She is leveraging her situation to advocate for the rights of free-range parents and their children everywhere.
Brittany Patterson, 41, was arrested and charged with child endangerment by the Fannin County Sheriff’s Department on Oct. 30. She has been fiercely resisting ever since, even turning down a plea deal.
Patterson joined her lawyer on “Fox & Friends Weekend” to discuss her challenging experience and outline her future plans in the fight for free-range parenting.
“It has certainly been quite distressing.” Patterson expressed concern, stating, “My kids have never experienced anything like that before, so their first interaction with law enforcement was witnessing their mother being taken out of the house in handcuffs, which I believe was quite traumatizing.”
Patterson’s son Soren, just 10 years old then, had made his way into town, less than a mile from home, the day before Halloween. Patterson mentioned that he didn’t seek his mother’s permission, but he believes she would have likely given her approval regardless.
Sheriff’s deputies later found Soren walking through a town near the North Carolina border and informed Patterson of his location. Patterson was at the doctor’s office with one of her other sons at that moment.
Deputies took Soren home and later that day arrested Patterson in front of her family.
Authorities have indicated that they may dismiss the charges against Patterson if she consents to place a GPS tracker on her son’s phone for monitoring purposes. Patterson mentioned on the talk show that this has not been formally stated or verbally proposed, only suggested in a vague manner.
Her arrest ignited a broader discussion regarding the government’s influence on parenting and the true nature of a free-range household without interference from authorities.