Feb 25, 2008 10:34 am US/Eastern
Mom Who Went On "Strike" Charged With Neglect
OCALA, Fl. (CBS) ―
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Melissa Dean was charged with neglect after going "on strike."
MARION COUNTY CORRECTIONS/CBS
A fed up Ocala mother who declared she was going "on strike" because she
was tired of cleaning up after her four teenage sons has been charged with
neglect.
43-year old Melissa Dean told case workers with the Florida
Department of Children and Families that she overwhelmed because no one would
help her with the boys ages 17, 16, 14 and 13.
Because the boys were
constantly fighting, Dean told investigators she went "on strike" and started
spending nights at a friend's home. Dean said she would only spend time at her
home once a week because she thought that by giving up her bedroom to one of the
kids it would end the fighting.
Dean said she'd cook their meals at her friend's
house and them bring them to her children. She would also return around 11 a.m.
and make sure that all the boys were in bed.
Dean said the police have
been to her home more than a dozen times since last September due to the boys'
misbehavior.
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