Background: The apartment building in Newton, Iowa, where Angelia Varner”s baby fell (Google Maps). Inset: Angelia Varner (Jasper County Sheriff’s Office).

An Iowa woman was arrested after her 1-year-old toddler fell out of her apartment’s second-floor window while she was outside the home.

Angelia Varner, 35, was released on personal recognizance after she was arrested on Monday and charged with one count of child neglect. According to a criminal complaint reviewed by Law&Crime, Varner was accused of leaving her three young children alone on Aug. 18 while she went out to the parking lot of her apartment in Newton, Iowa.

According to the complaint, Varner told police that she had left her three young children — ages 23 months, 3 years old, and 9 years old — by themselves “for a few minutes” while she went outside. She told police that she left her 9-year-old in charge of the younger children.

Police stated that several neighbors saw the toddler fall while Varner was outside in the parking lot.

The toddler had “abrasions and bruising” to her head after falling about 12 feet, according to police.

Police said that when they went inside Varner’s apartment, they saw that the window where the little girl fell had a “significantly” torn screen. The tear created an opening big enough to allow a small child to fall out. Varner allegedly told police that the screen had been torn for “several months,” and she knew it was open when she left the apartment that day. She explained that she was trying to “cool” the home, police said.

The apartment manager told police that Varner never requested that her window be fixed.

According to the complaint, Varner’s neighbors told police that they often saw the three children “play at the open window and/or lean out of it.” The neighbors also said that they often allegedly saw the children “unattended” and playing outside without their mother around.

Varner was arrested on one charge of child neglect and booked into the Jasper County Jail. She was released on her own recognizance and is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 2.