What to Know
When you’re walking on the beach, or even swimming in the ocean, it’s easy to lose track of time. I get that, we all get that. But when you do these things while also leaving your six-month-old baby alone under a tent while she naps, that’s when things get a little murky. A Texas couple, Brian and Sara Wilks, are now the stars of a viral video on TikTok depicting just that.
In the video, there is police body cam footage from the moment they returned to their spot on the beach. There is also the audio of a 9-1-1 call from someone on the beach who spotted the infant alone. The worst part for some users on TikTok is the nonchalance that briana nd Sara have, despite there being actual police officers on the beach.
The baby was found alone napping under a tent.
@insideedition New video shows a baby left alone on the beach while her parents went on a stroll with their three other kids. A 911 call was made by a woman who was sunbathing. She told police she was startled to see the baby napping under a tent with no adult around. Deputies from Walton County, Florida, were met by the witness. Finally, the parents returned. Deputies say they had been home for about 56 minutes. The parents were charged with child neglect.
♬ original sound – Inside Edition
In the TikTok video, the six-month-old infant is found sleeping under a tent where the parents and their other children apparently were about an hour before. When Brian and Sara return, they seem surprised, but not totally put out, by the police at their spot on the beach, with their infant daughter.
According to the couple, they went for a walk down the beach with their older kids. And, in doing so, they purposely left their youngest, their infant daughter, asleep in their tent. But leaving your child alone on a beach is a definite no no. Who knew, right? The couple has three older kids and those children were with them at the time of the incident on the beach.
No one is siding with the parents on this one.
In the comments under the TikTok, no one was there to give the parents the benefit of the doubt. Instead, most of the users who shared their thoughts on the case were quick to side with the authorities and share their own worries about leaving their kids alone for shorter periods of time in their own homes.
“As a mom I could NEVER leave my child alone!!! And she’s an infant!!” One user wrote in the comments.
Another commented, “As a toddler mom an infant is arguably the easiest member of the family to bring along on a walk.”
“I don’t even leave my baby alone while I take a three minute shower…,” someone added. “She comes in there with me.”
Someone else joked that they don’t even like to leave their flip-flops on the beach unattended. And, another person commented, “I’m nervous to leave my bag and belongings behind! Unreal!”
In response to the parents claiming that they lost track of time on their family walk, sans baby, a user wrote, “Lost track of time? Two minutes alone is too long. My kids are always on my mind, every second. I have never once just lost track of time.”
The parents were charged.
Brian and Sara claim in the video that they lost track of time. They also appear pretty unbothered about the entire situation. There is no shouting or name-calling at all. But that’s just another strange piece of the puzzle.
According to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office in Walton County, Fla., Sara and Brian were arrested and charged with child neglect without great bodily harm. In the video, it’s explained that the couple opted to enroll in a parenting class. Under those conditions, they would have the charges dropped. Now, as far as the court of public opinion? That’s another story.
READ NEXT: This Toddler Didn’t Just Help Deliver ‘Her Baby’ – She Jumped in To Do Skin-to-Skin
