Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Vetner James Henry, 27, has been charged with child neglect after allegedly leaving a three-year-old child unattended while he went to check on something at his workplace.

After a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to a call about the child being left alone at about 9:50 p.m. on October 26, Henry reportedly said he had recently been promoted to a manager job at work, was concerned about a situation at work, and wanted to address it. Thinking she was asleep, Henry allegedly put the child in her bed with a tablet and closed the door before leaving the apartment.

While Henry was gone, the child reportedly used the tablet to call her grandmother; her grandmother asked the child to put Henry on the phone and learned that he was not there. The responding officer reported that Henry’s workplace is about a 10-minute drive from the apartment and that he returned about 40 minutes after the child called her grandmother.

Post Miranda, Henry reportedly said he was concerned that his employees were not doing their job correctly, so he put the child in bed with her tablet and closed the door. He said he thought she was asleep, so he went to his workplace but returned within 35 minutes.

The arresting officer reported that while Henry was being transported to the jail, he said another adult was in the house, but she left just three minutes after he did; he then reportedly said he was mistaken and was mixing up his days and that the other adult had not been there when he left the apartment.

Henry was arrested by Miami-Dade Schools Police in 2015 and charged with inciting a riot, trespassing, and resisting an officer without violence. The first two charges were dropped, and adjudication of guilt was withheld on the resisting charge. He has no local convictions.

Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $2,000 on the new charge, and Henry posted bail and was released.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.