Dad abandons child on interstate; mom lives out of town (Sweetwater, Texas)

Also see our earlier post today. Well, it appears that the little boy who was abandoned on the interstate by his father does have a mother after all--who lives in another city. So obviously Daddy CARLOS RICO did have custody or visitation--though of course, this is not discussed or acknowledged openly. So of course we will never hear how or why this father had access to this child and who gave it to him. Needless to say, Texas is a very strong fathers rights state.

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2011/jun/28/4-year-old-found-on-highway/

4-year-old found on Interstate 20 near SweetwaterFather charged with endangering a child
By Greg Kendall-Ball
Abilene Reporter-News
Posted June 28, 2011 at 8:21 p.m.

A 4-year-old boy found standing in the middle of Interstate 20 near Sweetwater early Tuesday morning is in good condition at a hospital.

The boy's father, Carlos Rico, is in jail in Saginaw after being charged with endangering a child for reportedly abandoning the boy on the interstate.

Sweetwater Police Chief Jim Kelley said the Sweetwater High School boys basketball coach and the coach's son were heading out of town for a golf tournament around 6 a.m. Tuesday when they spotted the boy standing in the middle of the roadway.

"They stopped and grabbed him and called us. Thank goodness they happened by right when they did. Who knows what could have happened," Kelley said.

Kelley said the boy was discovered with bruises and "hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cactus spines, covering him from head to toe."

A few hours after the boy was found, Kelley said Sweetwater police received a call from the police department in Saginaw, near Fort Worth. A man had turned himself in to the police there, saying he had left the boy on the side of the road while driving from Lubbock to Saginaw.

"From talking with the Saginaw police throughout the day, we were able to piece it together. Around 3 a.m., the father stopped and threw the boy out of the car like a bag of garbage," Kelley said.

Kelley said the boy, Angel, is believed to have been on the road for about three hours. He was listed in good condition Tuesday evening, but Kelley said he was unsure when the boy would be released.

The boy's mother, who lives in Lubbock, was notified, and Kelley said she was at the hospital.

Child Protective Services has been called in to investigate.

Rico could be charged with a second-degree felony. According to the Texas Criminal Code, abandoning or endangering a child is a second-degree felony if a child is abandoned "under circumstances that a reasonable person would believe would place the child in imminent danger of death, bodily injury, or physical or mental impairment."

Second-degree felonies are punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.