A Wisconsin babysitter has avoided jail time after accepting a plea deal for leaving three toddlers in a hot car while she had her nails done. Hannah Sprang, 24, was sentenced to probation by Manitowoc County Circuit Judge Bob Dewane on Monday after pleading no contest to three counts of child neglect, according to court records.
Incident Details
Sprang was accused of leaving three children—a one-year-old and two two-year-olds—inside her unattended vehicle for nearly 90 minutes while she visited a nail salon, as detailed in a criminal complaint obtained by WLUK. Police were called to the unidentified spa on July 18 last year for a report of children alone in a vehicle.
The complaint noted that the babysitter seemed unphased by the reason for contact or that she left three children in an unattended and not running vehicle. Sprang stated that she was at the spa to get her nails done and that they had made her wait because they were not ready for her. She told police her appointment was for 11am, but the staff did not take her right away, and she claimed to have checked on the children multiple times throughout her appointment.
However, the responding officer wrote in the report that surveillance footage disproved Sprang's claim. The officer stated, 'I was provided access to the video surveillance and learned that Sprang arrived in the chair at 1049 hours. At 1149 hours (one hour later), Sprang left to check on the children. Sprang then returns and does not leave until 1217 hours when she observed my squad behind her vehicle in the parking lot. The total amount of time the children were in the unattended vehicle was one hour and twenty-eight minutes.'
When confronted about the misinformation she provided, the officer noted that Sprang still appeared to be unphased. The outside temperature that day was 69 degrees Fahrenheit, but the vehicle's interior temperature reached 81.1 degrees. The filing stated, 'When I reached into the vehicle, the vehicle's interior was not overly warm. The interior was warm but not extremely warm. The children did not appear to be in any physical distress, although crying, probably due to the amount of contact.'
Court Proceedings
When the officer asked Sprang for the parents' contact information, she was not real cooperative. The complaint said, 'Sprang intermittently provided information to me; however, felt the need to be texting and calling each parent prior to me having a chance to talk to them. Sprang stated that she had made notification to each parent and they were responding to our location.'
At the sentencing hearing on Monday, Assistant District Attorney Angelina Scarpelli read a statement from the parents of one of the two-year-old victims. The statement read, 'Even today, there are still moments when we pull into a parking spot, and he says, "Don't leave me in here." Every time, we reassure him that we would never leave him alone in the car. Hearing your child say those words is heartbreaking.'
Sprang apologized for her actions, telling the court, 'I would just like to say I apologize and I regret deeply what I did, and I just apologize for what I did. And I know it was wrong.'
The judge sentenced her to two years of probation and ordered her to be permanently banned from offering babysitting or daycare services. The Daily Mail contacted Manitowoc County Police and Sprang's lawyer for comment.
