A healthcare executive and her husband have avoided prosecution after agreeing to fines, community service and a total ban from the Florida county where their six month-old baby was found left alone on a beach.
Sara Wilkes, 37, and Brian Wilkes, 40, were arrested last October after deputies responded to reports of an unattended infant at Miramar Beach. The Texas couple were both charged with child neglect without great bodily harm.
But court records show that prosecutors have agreed not to pursue the case if the couple meet a series of conditions set out in a deferred prosecution agreement.
The agreement requires each of them to pay a $1,000 fine, complete 25 hours of community service and attend a parenting class. They’ve also been barred from the entire Walton County, Florida, where the incident took place. They were banned from not just the beach but the whole county.
If either of them fails to comply or gets into further legal trouble, prosecutors can reopen the case, take it back to court and further punishment is possible.
The deferred prosecution agreement means the case will not proceed provided the couple satisfy all of its requirements.
The incident happened near the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort and Spa on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Members of the public discovered the baby alone and stepped in to care for her while emergency services were contacted.
By the time deputies arrived, the Good Samaritans were already looking after the child.
Police later said the baby’s vital signs were normal and that she was not in any kind of obvious physical distress.
Authorities said the couple returned to the area while officers were waiting for paramedics.
According to investigators, they admitted leaving the infant behind while they went elsewhere with their three other children.
Deputies said the pair told officers they had put the baby down for a nap beneath a beach tent. They then went for a walk and “lost track of time”.
Surveillance footage reviewed during the investigation clearly showed that neither parent had taken a mobile phone with them while they were away from the child.
The Florida Department of Children and Families also attended the scene following the incident. Their three other children were temporarily placed into state custody until relatives travelled from Texas to collect them.
The case drew widespread attention after details of the family’s circumstances emerged. The Wilkes family live in a home in Houston, Texas.
Sara Wilkes is a regional president at US Heart and Vascular, a national provider of support services for independent cardiovascular physician practices. Last year, she was named in Cardiovascular Business’s “Forty Under 40 Class of 2025”.
The publication said she had helped create a more streamlined and cost-effective experience for patients while improving standards of care.
Following the arrests, Walton County Sheriff’s Office Major Dustin Cosson publicly criticised the couple’s actions. He said the amount of time that the baby had been left alone went far beyond what authorities would consider reasonable.
Cosson said he understood that babies often have strict nap schedules. However, he said that did not justify leaving an infant unattended.
“That’s all fine and dandy, but you don’t just leave a baby at a house and then leave and go off to the store,” he told ABC13.
He also outlined some of the dangers that could have arisen while the child was alone on the beach.
“The baby could roll over and suffocate itself, or the wind could blow a towel over its face. There’s no telling what could have happened,” he said.
Cosson added that visitors should continue to exercise common sense while on holiday, even in family-friendly destinations.