A South Carolina woman has been charged with unlawful conduct toward a child after she left her under age 10 child alone at a park while she went grocery shopping.

Irmo Police said they were called to the scene at about 7:40 p.m. on Saturday by the grandparent of another child who reporting seeing no signs of a parent or guardian for the child, who had been playing with their grandchild at Irmo Community Park. The grandparent said they asked the child who was with them after about an hour, and the child said their mother had dropped them off.

The child said they had no way of getting in touch with her but gave police their mother’s name and the kind of car she drove when they arrived.

The child was “visibly scared and told officers they were hungry and thirsty,” police said.

About 90 minutes after police were called to the scene, officers saw a car matching the description of the mother’s car drive by the park but not stop. An officer conducted a traffic stop and brought the driver, identified as 55-year-old Frankie Campbell-Provo, back to the park.

“Campbell-Provo admitted that she was the legal guardian of the child and dropped them off at the park at 6:00pm, claiming she was going grocery shopping and would be back for the child at 8:00pm,” police said. “She acknowledged that the child did not have a cell phone or any means of communication and appeared to not understand the danger she placed the child in.”

Police arrested Campbell-Provo and released the child into the custody of a relative.

Campbell-Provo posted a $5,000 bond and was released on Monday, WIS reported. She faces up to 10 years in prison if she is convicted.

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