The Brief
- Flor Escalante of Watertown pleaded guilty to abandonment of a child after leaving her 12-year-old son on the side of the interstate.
- The incident occurred in November 2024 during an argument about the boy’s grades while driving to a learning center.
- A Waukesha County judge withheld a sentence and instead imposed two years of probation.
WAUKESHA, Wis. – Flor Escalante of Watertown pleaded guilty in Waukesha County court on Thursday, Nov. 20, to a charge of abandonment of a child. This, after police say she left her 12-year-old son on the side of the interstate and drove off. A second charge of neglecting a child was dismissed and read into the court record.
After Escalante entered the guilty plea Thursday, the court entered the penalty phase of the case. The Waukesha County judge withheld a sentence and instead gave Escalante two years probation.
Case details
What we know:
Officials say Escalante was driving her 12-year-old to Sylvan Learning Center in Brookfield in November 2024 when the two got into an argument about the boy’s grades. Deputies say the argument led Escalante to pull over. Her son got out of the car – and she drove off.
Officials said at the time of the incident, it was about 50 degrees outside – and traffic was whizzing by at 70 miles per hour. …