Man placed on probation after 2-year-old found alone on school playground - East Idaho News
Crime Watch

Man placed on probation after 2-year-old found alone on school playground

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IDAHO FALLS — A man will spend time on probation after police found a toddler alone at a playground.

On Wednesday, District Judge Bruce Pickett placed Domenique Florea, 40, on six years of felony probation. Florea had pleaded guilty to felony injury to a child and felony possession of a controlled substance. Florea will face a three-to-seven-year prison sentence if he fails probation.

As part of the plea agreement, a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest was dismissed.

Police reports show that on June 22, officers arrived at Fox Hollow Elementary School after someone saw a 2-year-old boy playing on the playground alone for more than an hour. The boy struggled to communicate with police because of his young age.

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The toddler then got into a battery-powered toy car and started driving towards a house. Police followed and knocked on the home’s door with no response. The toddler then led police to the backyard with a child’s swimming pool with water that presented a drowning hazard, police said.

A sliding glass door was open on the house. Police said they feared the boy’s parents were hurt or dead and went inside.

As police searched, Florea climbed out of a window and ran away, but police captured him in a nearby field.

Florea is the father of the boy. He is married to a woman police found inside the house, who was allegedly “under the influence of something.”

Police found almost half a gram of heroin on Florea and several items of drug paraphernalia, including several used syringes on nightstands and tables within reach of the child.

Police deemed the child to be in imminent danger and removed him from the home.

The woman Lauren Florea, 28, was also arrested. She has pleaded guilty to felony injury to a child and is scheduled for sentencing by Pickett on Nov. 18.

Domenique Florea will will attend Wood Court, a problem-solving court. The structured program gives offenders help in mental health, drug addiction and other challenges.

He will also have to complete 100 hours of community service and pay $2,091 in fees and fines.

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