A Baltimore County woman was released on unsecured bond yesterday after a night in the Carroll County jail on charges that she allowed her 14-year-old son to live alone in a rented Westminster house for more than three months.
Vicky L. Shay, 39, was arrested Thursday by Baltimore County police and charged with child abuse, desertion, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, nonsupport of a child and reckless endangerment. A court commissioner set bail at $15,000, but a Carroll circuit judge released her on unsecured bond.
The charges stem from a complaint filed in Carroll District Court Feb. 7 by Ms. Shay's former landlord.
Susan C. Brown of Westminster said Ms. Shay "left her son . . . to live by himself in the home she was renting from me" from July or August until mid-October. She alleged that her house, in the 700 block of Young Way, was set afire, burglarized and used for drug activities.
Ms. Brown said Ms. Shay told her that she hadn't lived in the house "for three months" and that she "was living with her boyfriend and checking in" on her son "once a week."
Ms. Shay could be sentenced to more than 29 years in prison and fined more than $5,000 if convicted.