FARGO
A Fargo grandmother is charged with felony child neglect, accused of leaving alone her own 7-year-old daughter and three young grandchildren.
The four children, two of whom were 3-year-olds and another who was 20 months old, hadn't eaten since the day before, had bug bites on their bodies and were in a home with garbage strewn on the floor, according to police allegations filed with the charge of abuse or neglect of a child.
The charge was filed in Cass County District Court on Tuesday against 43-year-old Mihn Thi Vo. She has not yet appeared in court.
Police claim the children were found on Aug. 23 by a registered sex offender who is Vo's ex-boyfriend. He stopped by the apartment at 1940 21st Ave. S. looking for Vo, who he said had been trying to contact him.
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The ex-boyfriend, Martie Zueger, got the 7-year-old to let him inside, but a building manager checked on the unit because she saw him shouting through the windows at the girl. The manager called police, according to court records.
Zueger found the kids at noon, he told officers. Vo and one of her daughters who had allegedly left her children at the apartment returned home at 1:15 p.m.
Vo later told police she left at 11 a.m. to pick up the older daughter at Cash Wise before running errands.
Police say Vo admitted to leaving the children alone and knowing it was wrong.
Officers recommended in police reports that both of the other mothers who left children in the home also be charged with neglecting their children.
Ryan Younggren, an assistant Cass County state's attorney, said he declined to charge the two younger mothers because he could not prove they were aware of what was happening.
No phone number could be found for Vo, Zueger or either of the two daughters who weren't charged.
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
