MInneapolis sitter accused of putting tot on roof

Last update: April 29, 2008 - 10:17 AM

A Minneapolis woman is charged with two counts of child endangerment for allegedly forcing a child she was babysitting onto the roof of her apartment building, while dangling her own infant son out the second-floor window.

Vanessa Edna Sparks, 19, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with the gross misdemeanors following the incident Friday in which police were called to 2925 Park Av. S., where they found a 5-year-old girl on the roof 15 feet from the ground. The girl crawled inside through a window and told police that Sparks had put her out on the roof as punishment and would not let her back inside. She was outside for five to 10 minutes while the temperature was in the low 40s and it was raining, the complaint said.

A witness who saw the girl on the roof and called police also reported that while the girl was on the roof, Sparks dangled her nearly 1-year-old son out of the window. Sparks was booked into the Hennepin County jail.

ABBY SIMONS