Vicky Jo Adams, 49, reportedly dropped her son off at the Indian Hills park at 1:30 p.m. Sunday and returned at 7:30 p.m. to discover he was at the Douglas County Sheriff's Office after a deputy found him hours earlier cold and crying.
She is in Douglas County Jail on $25,000 bail.
The boy is in the custody of state Child Protective Services. Other than being cold and hungry, he was in good condition.
Adams reportedly told investigators when she dropped off her son, there were two males at the park whom she believed would be responsible for the boy.
She didn't know their names, but said they were ages 17 and 21.
Court records didn't indicate where Adams said she had been.
A deputy on patrol saw the boy at 4:25 p.m. Sunday sitting on the curb next to the road.
He told the officer he was waiting for his mother.
He reportedly told the deputy he was cold, but OK.
The deputy left to respond to a traffic call and returned 20 minutes later to check on the child. He said the boy was leaning against the fence, crying.
The deputy said the temperature had dropped to 40 degrees and the boy was dressed in a light fleece jacket.
The deputy and the child waited in the patrol car at the park for more than three hours.
In trying to track down Adams, authorities learned she had a 2004 arrest for child endangerment with the same victim, according to reports.
After dark, the deputy took the boy to the Minden station.
By this time, a second deputy had arrived and was patrolling the neighborhood looking for the woman's car.
Adams reportedly arrived at the park at 7:15 p.m. and the deputy told her where her son was.
Deputies said Adams claimed to have searched the neighborhood and never saw the patrol car at the park.
She was charged with leaving the child unsupervised at the park for more than five hours without adequate clothing.
