Mom arrested when homeschooled 10-year-old son wandered into town while she was at the doctor’s office with her sibling

A Georgia Mom arrested after letting her 10-year-old son wander into town less than a mile from their home.

Brittany Patterson, 41, was detained by police Fannin County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 30 for reckless endangerment after police found her son alone, NBC News reported. She has since been released after posting $500 bail.

Patterson received a call from Fannin County deputies while she was taking her other son to a doctor’s appointment. They said her son, Soren, was found on the side of the highway.

Soren, who is now 11, told police he didn’t need help and that he wasn’t in school because he was homeschooled. 11Alive reports. Soren’s grandfather was also home, while Patterson and Soren’s sibling went to the doctor.

“It’s not a super dangerous or even completely dangerous stretch of road,” Patterson said NBC News. “I wasn’t terrified of him or afraid for his safety.”

After officers took Soren home, Patterson thought the ordeal was over. But a few hours later, officers showed up at her house and arrested her.

“It was obviously anger and frustration because my kids had to go through all that,” she told NBC News. “They asked me to put my hands behind my back and all that stuff, and I realized what was going on.”

According to the incident report reviewed by 11Alive, “Patterson found (the situation) to be a joke, and (Brittany) could not understand why this was a serious issue.”

Officers told Patterson they would drop the reckless endangerment charge if she signed a form outlining a safety plan and promising her children would be closely monitored, NBC News reported.

Patterson will fight the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison.

‘This isn’t right. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said. “I’m going to fight for that.”

Patterson’s attorney, David DeLugas, said parents should decide what their children do “unless it is unreasonably dangerous.”

“Should all parents put GPS on their child?” he told NBC News.

The National Association of Parents, a organization which advocates for ‘the right of parents to raise their child as they see fit’, has launched a GoFundMe to ‘help defend Brit’.

The GoFundMe raised more than $45,000 as of November 15.