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Mom acquitted of falsely reporting 1-year-old son as missing during thunderstorm

Posted at 9:12 AM, Sep 28, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-28 09:13:53-04

BLUE ASH, Ohio -- A Tri-State woman has had all charges dropped after Blue Ash Police accused her of falsely reported her 1-year-old son as missing during a thunderstorm in September 2015.

Thirty-one-year-old Shandon Simmons was acquitted of a falsification charge in January at a trial with Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Brad Greenberg. Prior to that, a charge of inducing panic was dismissed at the request of the prosecutor, according to Craig Teepen, an attorney with the Hamilton County Public Defender's Office. 

 

Lieutenant Steve Schuler said Simmons sent the child’s father an alarming text message the night of a thunderstorm in early September 2015 that said she had dropped the boy off on the porch of his house.

However, nobody was there at the time as the father was away from his Blue Ash home. The father quickly sent his sister a text message, asking that she go see. When she arrived, Schuler said, “she found a diaper bag on the porch, which then seemingly confirmed the text message.”

When the father tried calling Simmons back, Schuler said, he got no answer. At that point, police launched a search of the area. Neighbors even pitched in.

“I was worried about the child because of the lightning, the storm,” said neighbor Shirley Hollander.

Blue Ash police even reached out to law enforcement in Dayton, where Simmons lives. When officers arrived at her residence, they discovered the truth: The child had been there the whole time.

Police believe Simmons was trying to traumatize the child’s father. Simmons turned herself into police custody and was initially charged with inducing panic before being released on her promise to appear in court.