Mum arrested after boy, 10, walks home alone for a mile and police say she 'endangered' him

Brittany Patterson was arrested and charged after her 10-year-old son walked a mile home alone while she was at the doctor's with another child

A mum has been arrested by police who claim she put her 10-year-old son in danger after he trekked home alone for a mile.

In a case that has sharply divided opinion, mum Brittany Patterson, 41, found herself cuffed on suspicion of reckless conduct and was told to cough up $500 bail following her arrest.

The incident has kicked up quite the storm after the mum defended the safety of the road her lad walked, claiming it was "not super dangerous."

The drama unfolded on October 30 when Patterson took another son to see a doctor. It was during this time that the Fannin County Sheriff's Department rang her to report her son had left their Mineral Bluff home and headed into town.

Chatting with NBC News, Patterson insisted, "It's not a super dangerous or even dangerous-at-all stretch of road. I wasn't terrified for him or scared for his safety."

After the police escorted the boy back home, they returned hours later to the family's residence near the North Carolina border. That's when they slapped the cuffs on Patterson, booking her for reckless conduct, reports Mirror US.

Patterson, of Georgia, US, expressed her dismay to local reporters, saying, "It was anger and frustration, of course, because my children were having to witness that all. They asked me to put my hands behind my back and all that stuff, and I realised what was going on."

According to her legal team, officials have proposed dropping charges against her if she agrees to a safety plan that ensures her children are supervised at all times. However, Patterson is reportedly refusing to sign the document and insists on fighting the charge.

She stated: "This is not right. I did nothing wrong. I'm going to fight for that."

NCB reports that Patterson's lawyer, David DeLugas, questioned, "Are all parents going to have to put GPS on their child? The parents get to decide for their children unless it is unreasonably dangerous."

A Gofundme page has been set up in response to the case, stating, "Just a boy on a walk. He knows to be careful and NOT to walk in the road. This was on the shoulder of roads where the speed limit is 35 mph then goes down to 25 mph. In a town without ANY stoplights and just one 4-Way Stop intersection.

"This is yet another time when a sole Deputy Sheriff substitutes her judgement about what parents can and cannot do and seeks an arrest warrant (that judges routinely sign without question). Here, the law she is alleged to have violated was declared unconstitutional in 1997 by the Georgia Supreme Court (same law used to arrest Melissa Henderson). Law enforcement just uses that law for anything deemed 'reckless' or unsafe.

"Again, another mother arrested with handcuffs, fingerprinting, mug shot, stripping down and changing into jail clothing, because one person in law enforcement claims it is SO dangerous to let a child walk about without a parent watching every second. Brit Patterson told ParentsUSA that it was humiliating (and who wouldn't feel that way? ) and that her children are so sad watching her get arrested (and her son feels responsible).

"When the Assistant District Attorney for Fannin County was asked whether ANYONE, child or adult, has ever been hit by a vehicle on this stretch of road, she couldn't answer (right after saying "something could have happened"). ParentsUSA has filed an Open Records Request asking for all incidents where a child or adult was injured on this stretch of road and any (GASP) abductions in the entire county in the past TWO YEARS. Let's see what we get."